Titanium
by Year of the Peacock
Summary: Sequel to 'Stone Cold', might wanna read that first. Amon is gone, but troubles in Republic City are just beginning; gangsters are being denied their bending, people are dissappearing, and Bolin's mask is slipping away for all the world to see and fear. Bolin/Asami Rating for language and violence.
1. Prologue

**For best understanding, read 'Stone Cold' first. **

* * *

**Titanium**

Bolin stretched out on the beach of Yue Bay, staring up at the full moon pensively. He thought of the past several months, and everything that had happened therein.

Korra's arrival.

The whole Amon thing.

The aftermath.

And more specifically, the more recent events.

After getting her bending back with Deux ex Machina (as he liked to call it), Korra began the arduous task of restoring the bending abilities back to those who had it taken from them. It was harder than it seemed, and a LOT of red tape was involved.

The Council discussed about WHO should have their bending restored. The Triple Threats, the Red Monsoons, and the Agni Kais, just to name a few, were on the temporary 'Bending Blacklist' until a decision could be made.

The result? Chaos. Pure unadulterated chaos.

The rival gangs put aside their differences for once and began reminding them of the fact that even those without bending could do a world of damage if given enough reason. Chief Beifong and her Metalbenders had one hell of a time subduing them, and even so, bails were posted by unincarcerated members of the gangs, and more damage was done than repair.

In an effort to keep the riots to a minimum, Chief Beifong began opening a new police force, hand-selecting Firebenders and Waterbenders to train in law and police work so they could utilize their bending in specific areas of expertise.

Mako was number one on her list as a Firebending Police recruit.

Korra, in addition to assisting the Council and restore bending, was number one on her list as a Waterbending Police recruit.

Asami was asked to develop new modes of easy transportation for the recruits.

Bolin wasnt approached at all. For ANYTHING.

...Other than by Mako, asking him to be the new captain of the Fire Ferrets.

So, in a typical fashion, Bolin hid behind his mask, feined enthusiasm at the 'new responsibility', and waited until everyone was out of his way before punching a crater into the side of what used to be City Hall.

He was sick and tired of hiding behind this mask of inferiority and mediocraty. He was sick and tired of being looked over or not seen at all.

But most of all, he was sick and tired of playing nice.

As he thought these things over, his eyes burning with ice-cold hatred, the sand shifted under him, as though wishing to escape his agitation. He allowed his anger to burn for a few more minutes before sighing and standing up, heading back to his apartment. He had a Pro-Bending match tomorrow, and as long as those two greenhorns he now called teammates didnt chicken out, they might do well enough to qualify for the quarter finals.


	2. Chapter 1

Bolin stalked into the changing room, hurling his helmet against the wall, leaving it indented into the stone and not caring a damn bit about who saw his temper.

It was THE most humiliating match of his entire career! Tahno and the rest of his smug asshat team couldnt have humiliated him more! In fact, the stupid announcer said it was a new record for quickest knockout in the history of the game.

The new Waterbender on his team even cried, and Bolin resisted the urge to punch him in the face. To punch them BOTH in the face. Maybe even break their legs so he would have an excuse not to show his face around them again.

As though sensing the waves of fury rolling off of him, his teammates wisely kept clear of the changing room, as did everyone else, giving Bolin a chance to reign in his temper and adjust his mask back on. He changed, didnt bother with a shower, and stalked out the side entrance of the arena before anyone could see him.

He strolled aimlessly for a short while before catching a cab to Sato Estates. The only one he could even really talk to was Asami. After that first night with her, he realized he could loosen his mask around her, as she could with him. Still, he was no fool; he didnt tell her EVERYTHING. He just pretended a little less with her.

He paid the cab driver and walked past the gate, knocking on the door.

Asami herself opened it, not looking surprised at all that he was there, and let him in without a word. As he walked past the foyer, a little of Bolin's mask fell. His smile went wry and cold, and his eyes froze over. Asami noticed and again said nothing. She already had a feeling of why he was there. She had listened to the match commentary on the radio, and actually cringed when she heard how short the match lasted.

So she led him to the kitchen and quietly handed him the cup of tea she had made for herself just moments before he arrived, and made her own cup.

"Got anything stronger?" Bolin asked, though drinking the tea anyway. Asami paused before opening a cabinet and taking out a bottle of expensive liquor, handing it to him and watching as he popped the cork and guzzled straight from the bottle.

"...Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, sipping her own tea. Bolin wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and contemplated the now half-empty bottle.

"...I'm sick of it," he said, his voice thick and angry, a tone he never used around anyone but her. "I'm sick of the whole goddamned game."

_'Which one?'_ Asami thought to herself, taking another sip of her tea. "Then quit," she said, not mincing words. "Your heart isnt in the game anyway. Why stick with it?"

Why, indeed. "The team needs me," he replied, no conviction at all in his voice. "Cant let them down."

_'Again, which one?'_ "I dont insult your intellegence, Bo," Asami said, her own eyes hardening. "Pay me a courtesy here and dont insult mine." She put her cup down and crossed her arms. "You hate Pro-Bending. You probably didnt before, but you hate it NOW. It's too restricted for you. Too much unwanted responsibility. So why bother?"

Bolin gave her a stony glower. "If you know me as well as you think you do," he replied icily, "then you KNOW why I cant."

Asami leveled a glower of equal intensity back. "If there's one thing I can personally say I hate, Bolin, it's a false front. Playing Daddy's Little Girl for the rich morons who only wanted to kiss my father's ass. Pretending to be flattered by little boys who only wanted a cut of the Sato fortune." She dug her nails into her arm. "Pretending that I'm fine and that I cant hear the whispers behind my back. You're not the only one who wants to break a few arms, Bo."

Bolin averted his eyes back to the bottle, tipping it back and draining it. "Then quit," he shot back, a tasteless sarcasm coating his words. "You're no Daddy's Girl. You're not flattered by cheap words. You're insulted by what people say. Woman up."

Asami's eyes flashed. "If you're just going to sit there, insult me, and get drunk, then you can just leave," she snapped, turning to head out. "You know where the door is." She was about to head out for her study when Bolin's hand grabbed her arm and whipped her around. She was pinned in place by a look of pure loathing and killing intent. Both, somehow, not directed to her, but still there as though to make a point.

"If only you knew just how much I could let this mask fall and show the world who I really am," he hissed, his tone as dark as the look in his eyes. "If only Korra knew how much I wanted to rip her heart out and crush it in my hand to show her what it felt like when she hurt me. If only Mako knew how much I hate him for taking the only girl I may have loved from me, and betraying a perfectly good woman AND his brother at the same time." A hand wound around her hair possessively. "If only my so-called friends knew how I REALLY make my living, what I REALLY like to do for fun..."

Asami forced herself to not look away, her heart pounding with trepadation. "...And what if I knew?" she challenged. Bolin's eyes narrowed slightly, and for a moment she thought he was going to prove firsthand just what he was talking about.

Instead, she found his mouth pressed firmly to hers, his hand clenched hard in her hair and his tongue demanding entrance. She granted it, reaching up to dig her nails into his scalp. THIS she was comfortable with. THIS she could handle.

Granted, the first time, she almost couldnt handle it. That first time was NOT the Bolin she thought she knew. Instead of a happy-go-lucky dork who she thought would most likely fumble around with inexperience, she found herself in unknown territory with an animal who bit, clawed, and pinned down with dominance and enough experience for the both of them.

That was the first taste of the 'Real' Bolin, and even as a taste, it was almost too much for her to handle. But she was always curious about what more there was to him. Every visit, there was more and more depth to the mystery that was her ex's brother, and she always craved more. She wanted to know who the 'Real' Bolin was.

And she was going to find out.

* * *

Like the other times, Asami found herself staring up at the elaborate ceiling of her bedroom, the ivory coolness of the cigarette holder poised in front of her lips as she prepared for another drag of the cigarette she once kept hidden in rebellion from her father, but could now keep displayed proudly on her nightstand. Also like the other times, the aftermath of sex between her and Bolin was filled with heavy silence. It wasnt an uncomfortable silence, but rather a respectful one. Asami preferred silence and brief inner solitude after sex, and thankfully, apparantly, so did Bolin.

Her inner solitude was focused on Bolin, however. She had dug a little deeper tonight, and found more to Bolin. It was a dark and surprising find, to say the least. She had known from night one that Bolin wasnt as innocent as he had first seemed, but now it was like finding a completely different person underneath the half-mask he continued to wear around her.

The newer level of Bolin she found was frightening and violent, and she knew Bolin had USED that violence, and couldnt help but feel grateful that it had never been against her.

But she still wanted to know more. She wanted to know EVERYTHING.

She finished her second cigarette and put the holder back into its case, glancing at Bolin. While she smoked, he preferred to drink after sex, and would stare across the room at the wall, as opposed to at the ceiling, taking swigs of whatever drink she had stashed in her room every few minutes. The hatred and anger in his eyes seemed to thaw after awhile, leaving instead contemplative richness that almost made his eyes glow behind his mussed hair.

Finally, after drinking half the bottle within a 30-minute silence, he corked it and set it down on his bedside table and slipped out of bed, redressing himself. Asami did the same, slipping her wrap-around nightgown around her shoulders before turning to him.

"I was serious before," she said. "Quit. Stop hiding. You're too good to be hiding behind that innocent little boy front." Bolin glanced back at her, not bothering to slick his hair back as usual.

"You first, Princess Asami," he replied, an icy, mocking smirk crossing his features, perverting his innocent features in a way only she had seen (and lived to tell about it, as far as she knew). "Show me you can take down your own mask, and MAYBE I'll do the same."

Asami glared at the challenge, but knew he actually wouldnt unless she did too. "We'll see," she said, then paused. "...you know I have a contract from Chief Beifong to develop new vehicles for the force, right?"

"Yeah, so?" Bolin asked, changing his mind about the bottle and uncorking it again, taking another swig back. Asami nibbled her lip before beckoning him to follow, leading him to the garage section and in through a back door, flicking on the lights to reveal a scattered and messy workplace with only one finished product in the entire garage.

A large motorbike with all the bells and whistles, decked out with intricate metal plating in odd patterns. Bolin whistled with appreciation, looking it over. "Nice," he said, running his fingers over the plating. "For the Chief?"

Asami was silent for a moment. "WAS for Chief Beifong," she said. "It's the prototype, but it runs as planned. I was going to give it to her to see if it was prime material for her Metalbenders...but I want you to have it."

Bolin's head shot up, looking honestly surprised. "...Why?" he asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. Asami rolled her eyes.

"Because you deserve it," she said, crossing her arms. "I'm not stupid. I know you got the shit end of the stick while everyone else got their goodies after that whole ordeal. I can commission plenty of these built for the force." She handed him a small metal card, the ticket of authenticity. "Normally, it's only powered by Metalbending a component in the motor, but I changed it for you so you can bend a crystal inside to get it to start, not metal."

Bolin was still staring at her like he was waiting for the other proverbial shoe to fall, his eyes hard with suspicion. Asami bit back a sigh; she had already figured out that Bolin thought every single thing came with at least one string attached. "Just take it, Bo," she said, her voice disspelling any room for retort. "And let's just say if you break it, you're paying me back every little bit. Fair enough?"

Bolin eyed her for a few more moments before taking the authenticity card. "Fine," he said, pocketing it and straddling the seat of the motorbike, feeling around for a moment until his bending sensed the crystal under the metal and flicked it, the bike roaring to life.

"You CAN ride one of these, right?" she asked. Bolin shot her a glance of annoyance.

"Now who's insulting who?" he said, kicking the stand back. "I've ridden enough of the civilian types. Dont worry yourself, the bike will be fine."

Asami rolled her eyes. "It had better be, as many hours as I put into it." She stepped back. "See you around, Bo."

Bo gave her a mock salute before flying out of the garage at top speed, grinning at the feel of the bike's speed, and the dull thrum of the metal under him.

If anything, he thought as he rode home, Asami had given him a VERY good reason to master Metalbending.


	3. Chapter 2

Bolin had no problem hiding his new bike in the pay-by-day garage across the street from his apartment and slipping back into his apartment without waking Mako up. He knew he should get some sleep, but found himself staring up at his ceiling in thought.

Asami was right. He WAS too good for the mediocre life he was forcing himself to have. His heart wasnt in Pro-Bending...oh, who was he kidding, he wanted nothing more than to get kicked out of the Federation by purposely giving his own teammates illegal skull-shattering headshots.

What he REALLY wanted was to get back to his debt-collecting job. Participate in illegal no-bars-held non-bending fights, now that he was old enough and not too busy to actually enter. Maybe drag race, that could be fun. Anything, as long as Mako wasnt breathing down his neck.

Speaking of whom, Bolin shifted his eyes to glance across the room at Mako, who was sleeping like a baby. He hated being stuck living with Mako, being looked over like a baby, unable to properly drink or relax under his own roof.

Hells, it wasnt even his own roof...he was still living with his brother, even though he had the funds to get his own place AND furnish it. But that would only raise questions he didnt want to answer.

Growling to himself, Bolin leaned back on the bed and closed his eyes.

He'd deal with it tomorrow. Like he always did.

* * *

He knew what he was going to do first thing in the morning, when Mako was actually fighting back snickers at the piss-poor performance the Fire Ferrets did last night. He had to physically restrain himself from punching Mako's face in, and forced himself to eat his breakfast in silence before heading out.

There was no way in hells he was going to be a laughing stock of his own goddamned brother.

He walked into the Pro-Bending Federation's office without an appointment or an apology for his forwardness and made his intentions clear.

"I quit. I withdraw the Fire Ferrets completely from the roster."

Then he left, leaving the Federation officials stunned speechless, and rode off on his motorbike feeling like a million yuans. And just like that, his schedule cleared up exponentially, leaving him with plenty of time to run his 'errands'.

First things first...

* * *

Lightning Bolt Zolt slammed the phone back down on the hook, wishing more than anything that he could Firebend, just to get some stress off his chest. The lawyers against the Bending Blacklist had just called to say the appeal for the list had been denied, and his and those in his gang and those in the rival-turned-ally gangs were still written in red. At this rate, his children's children would be his age before the names were crossed off!

The facial tic he'd recently developed made itself known again when the phone rang, and he answered it. "What?" he demanded.

_"Sir, someone is here to see you,"_ came the timid voice of his secretary. Zolt massaged the bridge of his nose.

"Who?"

_"...B...Bolin."_

More ticking. "What the devil does HE want?" Muffled silence on the other end.

_"...He said he has...business to discuss, and - HEY -!"_

_"Zolt, it's Bolin."_

Zolt felt a shudder run down his spine, and couldnt help but feel a twinge of regret for his lack of foresight when it came to this kid. Ton Lee had told him time and again that Bolin had a lot of potential, and was backed up by Shady Shin after the former was carted off to prison. It wasnt until he had seen the kid's work firsthand in merciless bonebreaking torture did he wish he hadnt incurred Bolin's wrath with threats to his older brother.

"...What do you want, Bolin?" he asked, keeping the venom and fear he felt out of his tone.

_"To talk business. I hear you, Zaru, and Takku are no longer at turf war, is that right?"_

Zolt scowled. "Yes, AND? Your point?"

_"I've just thought of a whole new enterprise for you and your new underground brothers. And it doesnt have to include bending, now how about that?"_

Zolt clenched his teeth until his jaw cracked. "You had better just say what you want to say before I hang up -!"

_"Dont get your trousers in a twist, Zolt, I'm making a bonafide suggestion here." _Bolin sounded placiating, but Zolt could hear the warning in his voice. _"Get together with Zaru and Takku and start discussing a more organized non-bending fighting tournament. Include higher cuts of pay, better bribes out of situations, and better prizes. Make it as official as possible. Make it LEGAL if you have to."_

Zolt actually looked at the earpiece in his hand like it had begun speaking to him in Pigsquid-inese. "...Why are you suggesting this?" he asked slowly.

_"Do you WANT your life to have meaning again, or not?"_

Zolt's jaw tightened again. He knew that his chances of getting his name off the Bending Blacklist was zero to none at this point, and he needed a way to generate more income to the gangs before hundreds went completely broke.

"...Fine, I will," he finally said.

_"Great!"_ Another tic. He hated that kid sounding all giddy. It was just WRONG. _"I'll get back to you for detail information. You and the others play your cards right, I might be able to pull a few strings so a few names can be taken of the List. Oh, look at the time, gotta run! ...And Zolt?"_

Zolt shuddered, glad he was having this conversation over the phone and not in person. "What?"

_"I had absolutely nothing to do with this idea. Ciao." *click*_

Zolt put the phone back on the hook and leaned back in his chair. He didnt know what that kid was up to, but he'd be damned to an early hell if he didnt do what he was requested to do.

* * *

**Reviews are much appreciated!**


	4. Chapter 3

**I'd really like some feedback from you all to see how I'm doing!**

* * *

Bolin took a personal bet with himself to see how long it would take Mako and Korra to realize the Fire Ferrets were no more. Three weeks later, they STILL hadnt figured it out. It only proved they were too caught up in their own lives to pay him any mind.

Something he found pretty good, to be honest. He could do his own business without them poking their noses into it.

He had just come in from making another call to Zolt and the others to see how his plans were taking, and was satisfied to find that they were under way ahead of what he was expecting. Turns out plenty of former benders had a lot of pent-up rage, and taking it out on each other was just the way to let steam off.

Bolin came home to an empty apartment and two envelopes on the table, one of them opened. He picked up the other, seeing that it was addressed to him, and found an invitation to a social elite party to commemorate Asami's 19th birthday. He saw that the other envelope was addressed to Mako, and knew that his brother had gone out shopping with Korra, leaving him alone again.

_'Nice, bro,'_ he thought dryly to himself, taking his jacket and invitation to the bedroom, looking around almost on a whim.

...He needed to move out.

It wasnt like Mako would really notice he was gone, right?

Eh, whatever, he'd start looking for apartments tomorrow.

Now, what to get Asami...

* * *

The social party was just as he expected it to be.

Boring as a pile of dried sky bison dung.

He adjusted the collar of the jacket he hadnt bothered buttoning and drained another glass of expensive champagne, wondering why these parties didnt have hard liquor after dark.

Across the hall, Mako and Korra were off with Tenzin and his family, talking about their own thing, and on the other end, Asami was being talked at about pointless BS. Empty condolences about her father, and if she as a woman was REALLY ready to take the responsibility of being the Chief Executive Officer of Future Industries. It almost made him laugh at how ready she was to punch the bluebloods in the face.

Finally, she managed to excuse herself, heading over to the bar where Bolin was lounging against, her jaw tight.

"Enjoying your birthday, Princess Sato?" Bolin said softly, knocking back his ninth glass of the evening. Asami gave him a glare as hot as liquid steel.

"Immensely," she replied tersely, grabbing a glass of champagne of her own. "I just cant wait for everyone to just go away. I didnt even WANT this stupid party, but what kind of image would I be putting up if I DIDNT?"

"That you were a bitter cold ice queen hellbent on seeing the bourgeois burn." Asami gave him a 'look'. "Just sayin'."

"The pathetic thing is, you're right." She knocked the glass of champagne back.

"Want me to start a few fires to clear them out?"

Sigh. "No, Bolin. I dont want you to start a few fires. Or any fire. And no earthquakes either."

"Spoilsport. I think it'd be fun to see the rich folk piss themselves in fear and have to go home wet." Another glass of champagne gone.

Asami sighed again, used to Bolin's morbid sense of humor, but still finding it not to her taste. "How's the motorbike working?" she asked, changing the subject. Bolin saw the move, but didnt comment.

"Purrs like a pandacat," he replied. "And still functional and uncrashed. You wont be seeing a yuan of my money anytime soon, Princess." He glanced out at the crowd that glittered falsely with gold and jewels. "Though, if you're looking for a change in scenery, you're in luck."

"Why's that?"

"Underground fighting tournaments are starting up again," he said, casually snitching his eleventh glass. "First big match sets of the season are tomorrow, if you wanna come with me."

Asami blinked up at Bolin, not knowing if he had just asked her out on an illegal date or what. Bolin glanced back down, flashing her a quick sinister smile that he reserved for those 'in the know' before going back to his usual happy-go-lucky visage. "You in?"

Asami glanced down into the pale gold of her champagne. "...Sure. I'm in." She knocked the rest back, then sighed. "I'd better go back to mingling and making small talk before I'm deemed 'anti-social' by the media. Again." She put her empty glass down and glided off back into the crowd

"Hey, Bo." Korra. Wonderful. Bolin turned and gave her a cheerful smile.

"Hey, Korra." Korra smoothed the front of her new blue dress, glancing back at Asami.

"What were you guys talking about?"

Bolin grabbed another glass. "An upcoming match," he replied half-truthfully, sipping the champagne. Korra nodded, smiling at him.

"Yeah, I cant wait either," she said. "Hey, dont drink too much of that stuff. I'm on my second glass and already feeling tipsy."

_'Lightweight.'_ "I wont. Scout's honor." Korra giggled, then began making small talk about Pro-Bending's upcoming matches.

* * *

Bolin began thanking the names of every Spirit and god he knew that the night was wrapping up. If he had to spend one more unnecessary hour with these pretentious assholes, he was going to knock a chandelier down with the hopes at least one of them would be crushed. Right now he was standing over with the rest of the group, trying his damnedest to keep looking happy as Asami began wishing her guests well as they left.

He was SO stopping by the liquor store after this. Thirty-two glasses of champagne and one whole bottle and he still wasnt buzzed.

Asami was now wishing a good evening to a family who owned a jewelry company that made jewelry and the such for nobility, and Bolin could see that the young adult son of the man whose hand she was shaking was eyeing her over lustfully. Bolin felt a spike of possessiveness rise in his gut, but kept his facade up.

"I hope we can meet again sometime...maybe over dinner?" the older man said, smiling. Asami gave him a convincing smile back and was about to reply when the man's son cut in.

"Yes, and perhaps WE could speak...over a dinner of our own." As the obviously unveiled suggestion left his lips, his fingertips brushed the small of her back. Bolin's rage spiked nearly to critical levels, but he wasnt quick enough to grab at the man before Asami did, snatching his hand and twisting it hard, a crack resonating through the room, leaving the man, Korra, Mako, and the Airbending family stunned and speechless. Even the young man was too shocked to cry out in pain.

Asami's eyes flashed cold, a flush of rage appearing on her cheeks. "Touch me again," she said, loud enough for everyone close to hear, "and I take the arm off next time." She let the man's hand go, giving his father a curt nod. "I wouldnt hold your breath for the dinner, Sir. Thank you for coming." She walked away to wish good-night to the next guest, leaving the group still stunned.

Except for Bolin. Inwardly, he crowed with sadistic delight at Asami asserting herself in such a fashion. Bone-breakage was always his preferred means of torture, after all...

He feigned not feeling well after hearing bones crack to the rest of the group and skived off early, but hid himself the next floor up to wait until Asami was alone. That alone took another hour and he made a mental note to NEVER hold social parties in the future no matter how rich he ever got.

"Nice job, Princess," he said, watching as she tore her jewelry off like they were leech slugs. "Didnt know you had it in you."

"Fuck off, Bolin," she hissed, her cheeks still flushed with rightous fury, but the bite in her words undirected toward him, and he knew it.

"No, I'm serious." He stepped up behind her as she sat down at her vanity, stroking a lock of her hair. "...You could have been a torture expert for the Triple Threats...bone-breaking was their specialty, you know..."

"Bolin, I'm tired. I dont want to hear your morbid fantasies...not tonight." Bolin frowned slightly at the shuddery weariness in her voice, then give her his dark, lustful smile in the mirror, reaching into his pocket and taking out a small box.

"Then may I give you your present, Princess?" he said, but not as a question. Asami, flicked her eyes at the box, then at Bolin's reflection.

"...You got me a present?" she asked. Bolin snorted.

"It's your birthday, is it not?" He handed her the box. Asami ran her hand over the velvet lid for a moment before opening it, her eyes going wide.

Inside was a golden brooch with a huge green gem the exact color of her eyes. Genuine gold. A REAL gem.

"...Where did you get this...?" she breathed, running her fingertip over the shining surface. Bolin shrugged nonchalantly behind her.

"Collected some money I was owed. Pulled some strings with the crafting department. No big whoop." He smiled. "Do you like it?"

Asami stared a few moments more before nodding. "...I do," she said. "It's beautiful...but you didnt have to -"

Bolin silenced her with his hands on her shoulders, the simple gesture making the power behind them permeate her skin. "You should know by now that I dont HAVE to do ANYTHING I dont want to these days," he said, his voice soft, but dark. "And besides...Princess Asami should always look her best. Right?"

Asami looked up at the mirror to catch Bolin's reflection staring at hers. They locked eyes for a moment before she nodded.

"...Thank you," she said, putting the box on the vanity, but keeping it open. Bolin's smile broadened, his expression satisfied.

"Glad you like it." His hands slid across her shoulders, up her neck, and over her jawline to tip her head back as he leaned down to kiss her. It was a brief kiss, but she felt the possessive, powerful intent behind it. He smiled down at her before letting her go. "I have some work to do tonight, so I'm not staying long...I just wanted to see that Princess Sato got her jewels of the night."

Asami's jaw flexed at the infuriating pet name he had christened her with. "I believe you owe me another favor, Bolin," she said crisply. Bolin arched a brow. "I recall not long ago you said that if I began to stop hiding behind my mask, you would too. And I think breaking that bastard's hand in front of everyone qualifies as my end done."

Bolin smirked. "Indeed, it was," he replied. "Fine. A deal is a deal. You'll be seeing less of my mask and more of me from now on." His smirk turned almost foul. "Starting tomorrow night." He waved, and walked off.

Tomorrow...the underground fighting. Asami glanced back at her reflection, repressing a shudder, wondering if she was truly willing to see what was behind Bolin's mask.


	5. Chapter 4

Asami wasnt quite sure what to expect on this 'date' Bolin was taking her on, but she knew that looking pretty was the last thing she needed to worry about.

She begged the day off early, sent the staff home, and took a few hours to mentally prepare for what she may or may not see.

Bolin was inviting her into his territory tonight. Not just telling her about it. She was actually going to SEE what he truly was like. It frightened her, to some degree.

But at the same time, it excited her. On a level she knew on a logical level she shouldnt. But she already said yes, and she knew that when it came to Bolin, there was no backing out now.

She sat in the lounge, ten minutes before Bolin said he would pick her up, wearing the most tomboyish clothes she could find, her hair pulled back into a braid and no makeup on, trying to make herself look as visibly unattractive as possible when she was to be around the worst of the worst of Republic City. The only two things that made her feel better were the facts that A, Bolin was going to be there with her, and B, these people were former benders, so she had more of an equivocal standing if anything should happen.

Right when he said he would pick her up, the doorbell rang, and she walked off to answer, finding Bolin wearing little more than his street clothes, looking visibly excited.

"Ready to go?" he asked, his expression aglow with delight. Asami nodded, taking his offered arm and walking with him to the waiting cab, steeling herself to prepare for anything she was to see tonight.

The entrance to the fighting arena was just outside of the city, near the mountains. Bolin led Asami to the mountainside, where several Earthbenders were waiting as doormen. One of them stepped forward to demand who they were, but visibly paled when he saw Bolin and quickly Earthbent a hole in the side of the mountain to let them in.

Asami's hold on Bolin's arm tightened as they descended, only glowing crystals illuminating the path as they walked downward, far below the surface, before reaching another door with two more Earthbending guards, who opened it without a word.

Inside this door was an almost luxurious balcony room carved from the stone it once was, and Asami saw that sitting around the balcony were the highest ranking criminals of Republic City. Lightning Bolt Zolt of the Triple Threat. Zaru of the Agni Kai. Takku of the Red Monsoon. One or two of their immediate underlings each. And one unoccupied seat.

"What the devil is HE doing here!?" Takku spat, glaring at Bolin. Asami's hold on Bolin's arm tightened, as did Zolt's hold on the arms of the chair he was sitting on.

"...He is here as a guest," Zolt said as evenly as he could. "I DID tell you he...ran errands for me, yes?"

"Tch, what, running numbers with his big brother?" Zaru snorted. "Big errands, really -" He was cut off when a section of stone broke off and curved around his neck, pinning him back against his stone chair.

"If you want to see what 'errands' I ran, Zaru," Bolin said, keeping his hand up and poised to crush at any moment, "you can keep on talking." He led Asami to the empty chair and sat her down. "Zolt gives me too little credit as usual. But no matter." He dropped his hand, but the stone collar keeping Zaru pinned to the back of the chair remained. "We can talk about the old days over tea sometime." He cracked his knuckles.

"Until then...where would the waiting rooms be?"

Zolt gaped like an unagi out of water. "I...wait, WHAT? You CANT be serious!"

Bolin arched a brow. "Did I ever give you the impression that I WASNT?"

"But this is a NON-bending -!"

"And who said I would be USING my bending, hm?" He smirked in that dry, empty, soulless way. "Trust me. I dont need my bending to win."

"Zolt, if the kid wants to get his ass killed, then let him," Takku griped, giving Bolin the evil eye. "More entertainment for us."

Zolt looked about ready to protest, but sighed. "...Fine. Go. But no bending."

"Duh." Bolin headed out, aware of the fact that Asami was giving him a horrified look. "Oh, and if any of you touches my date, I'll rip your spine out and jump-rope with it." With that, he left. The others in the room gave Asami a quick, collective look before averting their eyes, all of them having heard the very real threat behind Bolin's words.

Asami briefly fantasized about how she would crush Bolin's genitals with the sharpest pair of heels she owned for leaving her up here with everyone, but she quelled the thought with curiosity. Bolin was going to fight. Without bending. She already knew he was physically strong (as if ANYONE couldnt see that...), speedy, and agile despite his size, but she hadnt really seen what his hand-to-hand combat was like.

But Bolin always had the game to back up his talk. He wouldnt willingly make an ass of himself in front of everyone like this.

So she sat back and made herself comfortable, waiting for the fighting to begin.

* * *

...Okay, she took it back.

She WOULD be crushing genitals by the end of this night.

She didnt have a weak stomach by any stretch of the imagination, but what she was seeing was inhuman. According to what the announcer said, all fights were no-bars-held. Anything applied, sans killing. If you killed your opponent, you were disqualified and held at the mercy of the deceased's friends.

Nobody had died, but Asami was sure that at least three losers had left the ring wishing they were, from the state they were in.

She noticed that Bolin wasnt the only bender to compete; four others -a Water Tribesman, another Earth Kingdom, and two Fire Nations- stepped in, but were all beaten soundly; from being dependent on their bending, Asami knew. She checked the roster and saw that Bolin was next, praying he wasnt the next bender to be beaten.

Bolin's presence ruffled quite a few feathers, but nobody really objected. He was read the rules and checked over to make sure he wasnt hiding any metal or rocks in his clothing, but they really neednt had bothered. Bolin was wearing nothing but a pair of loose-fit pants and had bandages over his knuckles and arms, the bare minimum.

He stepped up on the ring to face his opponent, a long-time champion of the underground non-bending fighthing named Harkon. The crowd began cheering for the champion and booing Bolin, all of them screaming for blood. Asami felt sick, mostly with worry over Bolin challenging this champion.

The referee repeated the rules for no mistakes to be made, and stepped back, shouting for them to begin.

Harkon immediately darted for Bolin, charging like a sabretooth moose, drawing a fist back to punch Bolin. Bolin just stood there until the last possible minute before ducking under the fist and driving his own fist in and up Harkon's abdomen, right in the solar plexus. Without waiting for a response, he slammed the heel of his hand up to Harkon's chin, then his elbow into the sternum, audibly cracking it.

With Harkon upright, Bolin gave him a kick in the ribs, sending him flying. Harkon landed on his back, momentarily stunned, but struggled upright, spitting out blood, glaring at Bolin, aware of the crowd's stupor of how fast the retaliation had taken place.

"Little orphan insect!" he spat, standing upright. Bolin just smiled, taking a defensive stance.

"First time's a warning," Bolin replied, loud enough for even those in the VIP area to hear. Asami's brow furrowed in confusion, but she saw Zolt and his crew pale slightly.

Back in the arena, Harkon paid no heed and charged Bolin again, swinging a wild haymaker at Bolin's head. Bolin blocked with his forearm, then reached over with his other arm to grab Harkon's wrist, twist, grab Harkon's head, and bash and grind it into the stone pillar, letting go right after.

Harkon grabbed the bashed side of his face, his hand picking up the ground-meat texture his face was now in, his rage spiking at how he was unable to keep up with the 17-year-old's speed. Said 17-year-old was stretching out his arms and cracking his knuckles.

"Second time's a scar," Bolin said, that infuriating smile broadening.

The small, seldom-used logical side of Harkon's brain told him that that smile was something he should fear, but the other 98% that ran on primative fighting instinct blindly shut all logic out and charged Bolin a third time, throwing out punches like they were free candy, growing more enraged as each hit was blocked or deflected, _THAT GODDAMNED INFURIATING SMILE NEVER WANING WHY WOULDNT IT GO AWAY WHY CANT I HIT HIM TOO FAST LITTLE PEST JUST ONE HIT AND-_

Harkon's train of thought came to a screeching halt when Bolin caught the fist he was about to drive into his face, the younger male's fingers like titanium around his knuckles as they refused to let the fist go. Harkon pulled at his fist, but Bolin's grip didnt give an iota. Snarling like a beast, Harkon aimed another punch at Bolin's head, only to have that fist caught in an unyeilding grip as well.

And still, that thrice-damned smile never waned; in fact, it began to frighten Harkon in a way no smile ever should, in a way no KID ever should!

As he aimed a kick at Bolin's legs to attempt to sweep them out from underneath -or shatter a kneecap, whatever would make him LET GO- Bolin jumped, pushed back, and drove both feet into Harkon's chest, his hands still clasped around Harkon's fists.

With two sickening snap-pops, both of Harkon's arms were violently snapped out of place, and the audience could SEE the arms flail uselessly like empty coat sleeves. Bolin let Harkon go, and the older male fell back on the floor, frozen from the shock.

"And third time's a limb," Bolin said. "Or in your case, two." Harkon remained stunned with shock on the floor, his eyes glazed and mouth twitching as though trying to figure out whether to scream or not. Bolin frowned slightly at the lack of response and slammed the heel of his foot down on Harkon's left arm, snapping the ulna.

THAT snapped Harkon out of his stupor; the older man shrieked in agony and struggled to get away from Bolin on just his knees, but Bolin snatched him up by his hair.

"You know the rules, Harkon," he said, his tone the same as though he were discussing the weather. "You dont leave unless you're victorious or unconscious. No tapping out, no running out." He suddenly scowled, his eyes blazing with white-hot ice. "Were you RUNNING, Harkon?! What, are you a COWARD!?" He planted his foot between Harkon's shoulderblades and grabbed the unbroken arm, twisting it hard.

Harkon shrieked in pain again, though his cries went ignored as Bolin kept twisting his arm further past all breaking points, going torturously slow to prolong the pain-

"BOLIN!"

Everyone in the arena turned to stare at Zolt, who was out of his seat and leaning out the VIP enclosure. Zolt's fingers clenched the frame of the enclosure tightly.

"This is a FIGHTING match, NOT a torture session! FINISH it already!"

Bolin glowered at Zolt, then flicked his eyes to Asami, who was bone pale and had both hands over her mouth, her eyes impossibly wide and overflowing with tears. He scowled and clenched his fingers around Harkon's head and slammed it once into the stone floor, knocking him out cold, then straightened and walked off the arena floor without a word.

Zolt sat back in his seat, giving Asami a sidelong glance, glad he intervened when he did before the poor girl vomited all over the place. What exactly Bolin brought her here for was beyond him, but even he had enough decency to not let a lady witness any kind of torture of THAT sort.

But he'd be lying if he said he didnt stop that tasteless torture for his OWN good as well. Quick breaks of bones in the fingers and arms was what he usually implied when it came to punishments, not long, agonizing, prolonged torture.

He briefly flashed back to when he first saw Bolin...that tiny, wide-eyed, scared 7-year-old who half-hid behind his big brother, shaking like a leaf from being stared at by the bigger, scarier people.

The little kid who cried when Mako recieved his 'first time: warning' punishment of a hard strike across the face by Zolt himself.

The boy who stood next to Ton Lee, who requested the boy recieve proper training, and looked disappointed when the request was denied.

The 12-year-old whose innocent eyes flashed with anger when he was told that Ton Lee was sent to prison and nobody else could be bothered with him; the first hint of true hardness Zolt could remember seeing.

He had only gone by stories from word-of-mouth, mostly by Shin, about Bolin for a few years after that; stories he didnt believe until he walked in on Bolin torturing a snitch using Earthbending techniques Ton Lee was infamious for; but Ton Lee never took a sadistic delight in his work.

The gleeful lack of empathy -the inhuman pleasure from someone else's pain- in Bolin's eyes was something he'd never forget.

Looking at Bolin's retreating back before he vanished from the ring, Zolt wished that he had never set eyes on those brothers, especially Bolin.


	6. Chapter 5

The rest of the evening matches that narrowed down to the champion of the week went as expected.

Child's play in comparison to Bolin's matches.

Even the organizers of the whole tournament were debating changing the 'no backing out' rule, every time Bolin was in the ring. Though he didnt prolong the torture as he did with Harkon, bones were still shattered and screams still resonated throughout the entire underground area for the duration of the night. Those lucky enough to get a hit in to Bolin found themselves with worse fractures than the others, where the bone pierced through the skin as though giving a visual warning to the other contestants.

When it came down to the final fight of the night to determine that week's champion, it came down to Bolin and the other finalist, a well-known fighter named Jushi from the Before Amon days, known for his speed and nerve strikes, something that always gave a fighter an advantage.

But Jushi didnt look like he had the advantage; in fact, he looked like he would rather be a bender in front of Amon than in front of Bolin. Bolin gave Jushi a look of amusement at his obvious fear, putting his hand on his hips.

"Look, you're my last victim...opponent, pardon...of the night," he said, sounding almost bored. "So why dont you just turn around and close your eyes, and make it easier on yourself?"

That seemed to finally make Jushi's panic peak the critical level as he made a break for the exit, only to have Bolin dart forward and snatch his arm before he could exit the ring. "PLEASE!" Jushi screamed at the VIP box. "PLEASE, LET ME BACK OUT! PLEASE! I'LL DO ANYTHING! ANY -!" He was cut off when Bolin twisted his arm hard, dangerously close to the snapping point.

"You coward," Bolin hissed, his eyes flashing. "I tried to be nice and offer you a semi-painless way out, and you RUN?!" He threw Jushi down to the floor, pinning him down with his foot on Jushi's back. "Well guess what, coward? You wont be running again for a VERY long time..." Pause. "...Well, never, if I have anything to do with it."

"NO! PLEASE! BOLIN, PLEASE, _PLEASE -!_"

Even the gang leaders in the VIP room had to avert their eyes as Bolin brought his foot down hard on Jushi's lower spinal area. They heard a brief scream of pain before it was silenced by Jushi being shocked into unconsciousness.

Silence rang throughout the entire underground cavern before the announcer stepped up and shakily proclaimed Bolin the champion.

Nobody cheered. Nobody applauded. Nobody said a word.

Bolin rolled his shoulders and spat some leftover blood from a face shot a former opponent managed to get in and headed off, reappearing a few minutes later in the VIP room.

"So," he said, smiling as though he hadnt just manually broken the bodies of half the contestants, "what'd you guys think? Pretty good, huh?"

He was met with looks of horror and shock from everyone in the room.

"...Tough crowd." He slipped over to Asami. "Ready to go?" he asked, reaching down to help her up, frowning when Asami visibly flinched. The others in the room collectively held their breath, half expecting Bolin to snatch her up or at very least scoff and leave her there.

Instead, Bolin slipped an arm around her back and eased her out of the chair, leading her out silently.

As soon as the door closed, Takku and Zaru and their associates began screaming at each other, their complaints and observations ranging from Bolin's demeanor to the brutality in which Bolin's opponents were dealt with.

"ZOLT!" Zolt was pulled out of his own musings when Takku stepped in front of him. "YOU allowed that...that LUNATIC to compete!" He snatched Zolt up by the lapel. "Harkon is my cousin, you bastard! And you LET that demon boy nearly dismember him -!"

Zolt slapped Takku's hands from his lapel, growling back. "I stopped him from doing just that, Takku!" He straightened his clothes and quelled down his own nausea. "...I didnt know what he was going to be doing, Takku," he said, running a shaking hand through his hair. "...I didnt know..."

"How could you have NOT known, Zolt?" Zaru demanded. "That kid used to run numbers for you, didnt he? How could you NOT know what he did?!"

Zolt looked away, glancing back at the arena, briefly thinking back to that one damned interrogation...

"...I dont know." Pause. "...I wish I did."

* * *

Asami was dead quiet the entire ride back home, her eyes never leaving her hands for fear they would catch Bolin's. Bolin in turn didnt do or say anything to make her look up or speak. They finally reached Sato Estates, and Bolin led Asami up into the house and into her room, settling her down on her bed.

"Tonight was pretty exciting, wasnt it?" he asked, sounding like he was talking to himself rather than her. "Maybe TOO exciting for you..." Asami fought to repress a flinch when he began petting her hair. "But you wanted to see MORE of me, and that's what I gave you. Not bad for no bending, eh?" He chuckled darkly, feeling her shake softly under his hand.

"Well, it's late...I need to head out now, I have some business to take care of in the morning." He leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I'll see you later..." Pause. "...And, Asami..."

Asami froze when Bolin turned her head so she was looking at him, his fingers flexed against her scalp in a gentle but threatening way. Her shaking worsened when she saw the icy, merciless cold irises stare hard into her soul, making her fear for her very life.

"...If you tell anyone about what you saw, I can guarantee nobody will find your remains." The fingers against her scalp flexed again, and Asami felt a tightness in her skull. "And I like you...I wouldnt want to have to do that." His eyes brightened, as did the smile on his face. "I hope we can do this again sometime, Princess Sato." He gave her a quick kiss before letting her go, giving her a playful wave before slipping out of her room and then out of her house.

Asami laid frozen in her bed for the longest time before she paled dramatically and barely managed to lean over the side of the bed before vomiting.

Oh gods...what did she get herself into...?


	7. Chapter 6

Bolin almost laughed out loud with thoughts of Mako's expression when he found out he had moved out of the apartment they shared.

Yesterday.

He still hung around the area near the police station in the afternoons as he would after Pro-Bending practice, shoot the breeze with Mako, if he had the chance during the lunch break, and then head on his merry way. He just finished grabbing a cup of coffee with his brother to chat over pointless drivel Bolin could care less about, including Mako's work, relationship with Korra, and possible promotions in the future.

At the end of the lunch break, Mako headed back, saying he'd catch Bolin back home.

Bolin kept a straight face until Mako was back inside the police station, then he nearly upset his coffee cup laughing so hard. He drained the cup and headed back home to his new apartment on the upper-east side of Republic City, where Tahno used to live.

Unlike his and Mako's shared apartment that had one bedroom, a washroom, and a kitchenette for them to share, Bolin's new apartment had two bedrooms, a large washroom, a living room, and a decently-sized kitchen. Not that he NEEDED that much space per se, he just finally appreciated the fact that he now had his own breathing space to streatch his legs.

Just to add a bit of enjoyable humor to the situation, he let Pabu have the spare bedroom for his own, filling it with shelves for Pabu to clamber over, and little toys to play with.

The rest of the house was furnished with as much earthware and metal furniture he could get away with. He briefly debated putting down stone flooring through the entire apartment instead of wood, but decided against it, opting to put it down only in his own bedroom.

After he finished furnishing it, he took a moment to look around. It was his. ALL his. He could eat, drink, wear, talk, and act as he wanted. The liberation...it was almost overwhelming.

But the personal space was utilized and the mask was off. He was independant and on his own, answering to nobody but himself. Time to enjoy it.

* * *

Mako was beside himself with panic.

At first he thought it was just conflicting schedules that he hadnt seen his brother outside of coffee breaks at work, but it was his day off. Bolin wasnt there when he woke up, during the day, and didnt come home after dark. He even stayed up all night.

Still no Bolin.

He called Tenzin to see if he was on the island. No.

Tenzin asked Korra if she had seen or been with Bolin. No.

Mako called Asami to see if she knew where he was. No.

He went to Lin with his panic, and she said she would keep an eye out for him, but there wasnt else much she COULD do.

Two days later and still no sign of Bolin, Tenzin, Korra, Lin, and Mako were at the police station trying to set up an official search when Bolin walked in, barely repressing a smirk as he watched their blind panic.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" More repression as all of them whipped around to stare at him like had risen from the dead. He was sure his new clothes and unslicked hair might have had something to do with the staring some. He was wearing a half-buttoned dark green shirt over dark brown trousers, the sleeves half-rolled and his hands in his pockets. He let his naturally shaggy hair stay waved around his face rather than slicking it back as he normally did.

He kept his smile on his face as they continued to stare. "...What?"

Mako ran over to him and shook his shoulders. "You moron, we've been worried sick!" he chastised, his amber eyes flashing. "Where the hell have you been!?"

Bolin brushed Mako's hands off of his shoulders. "I moved out," he replied. "I could've SWORN I gave you a memo..." He shrugged like it was nothing. Mako looked about ready to slap his head right from his shoulders.

"There WAS no memo, Bolin!" he shouted. "We've been going crazy trying to find you for the past three days! Why didnt you TELL us anything!"

"Last time I checked, Mako, I'm seventeen," Bolin said, letting hardness slip into his voice. "I dont have to tell you about every little thing I do. I'm a big boy who can take care of himself now. I dont need you breathing down my neck or taking care of me anymore."

Mako opened his mouth to contradict, but Tenzin stopped him with a firm hand on his shoulder. "Mako, Bolin is right," he said. "However impersonal his methods were in moving out, he IS legally inclined to do as he wishes." He turned to look at Bolin, his grey eyes hardening slightly at the carelessness they saw in Bolin's own eyes. "But Bolin, to save us all the time and worry, you really should have at least mentioned it."

"Sorry," Bolin said, not sounding sorry at all. "But now you know. I have my own place now, and I'm taking care of myself. No need to fly into a panic every time I go out and have a life." He rolled his shoulders, tossing his hair out of his eyes. "So I take it going out for coffee is a bust?"

Mako just glared, his cheeks flushed with slight embarrassment from having made such a big deal out of it and anger at Bolin for acting like it WAS no big deal.

"...So that's a no. Oh well." He shrugged. "Maybe next time. See ya." He turned and walked out without another word, leaving the rest of the group stunned.

Korra was first to recover. "What was THAT?" she demanded to no one in particular. Lin scoffed.

"Typical teenage rebellion," she griped. "Causing all sorts of pointless nonsense..." She crumpled up the paperwork she began, stalking off, muttering about how children should be put on a leash until they're adults.

Korra touched Mako's arm. "Maybe that is all there is, Mako," she said helpfully. "Maybe Bolin's just rebelling a little...let's give him his space, I'm sure he'll wear it out sooner or later."

Mako nodded, but looked doubtful. Three days didnt just change a person like that.

_'Bolin...what's happened to you?'_


	8. Chapter 7

Bolin was glad that he antagonized his way into being left alone so his brother or Korra wouldnt come barging to his home to bother him. It left him with plenty of time to hone his Earthbending techniques...and practice Metalbending.

The concept of bending the impurities was simple enough; it was FINDING those impurities that took all of Bolin's patience and concentration. He utilized his own method by holding a clump of iron in his hand and tossing it gently up and down, using Toph Beifong's vibration method to sense the tiny pieces of metal inside.

The calluses on his hands were nearly worn through from the tossing and catching by the time he finally sensed the flickers of earth, like the lightest drops of rain drizzle that were almost not there. He could 'feel' that inside the ore, there were pinpricks of earth.

It was like bending sand, he figured, as his fist enclosed around the iron clump, willing the 'pinpricks' to move and twist the metal around them. Slowly, surely, the metal began to compress and twist in his hand until he could close his fist no longer, and opened his eyes. In his hand was an iron clump squeezed to make a perfect indention of his grip.

Well. The hard part was over. Now the fun could begin.

* * *

Asami looked up from her fiscal papers when the doorbell rang, and checked the clock. She wasnt expecting Chief Beifong for another two hours, but the woman did prefer to be early or on time. And either way, the commissions were finished, so she wasnt worried. She stood up and walked to the foyer and opened the door.

"Hey, Princess Sato."

Asami's heart nearly leapt right out of her mouth; she hadnt seen or heard from Bolin in nearly a month, and now he just turned up unannounced. She quelled down nausea at the events of their LAST meeting, and stepped aside to let him in. As he stepped past the foyer, she noticed that his clothes and hair were different; more laid-back, casual, and carefree.

Oddly enough, now that she knew what he was REALLY like...it suited him better than his former look. Less repressed and more open.

"...Do you...need anything?" she asked, trying to keep her eyes averted from his. Bolin eyed her over, tipping her head up so she had to look at him.

"You still scared, Asami?" he asked, looking both peeved and amused. Asami shuddered.

"N -"

"Dont lie, Asami." The fingers around her jawline tightened ever-so-slightly. "You were scared. Sickened. Overwhelmed." His thumb ghosted over her lips. "But you've kept it to yourself. That's good." He let her face go. "And I did come over here for something. I want to show you something. You have a junk area?"

Asami swallowed hard. "...I do," she replied slowly. "Why?"

Bolin gave her his public charming smile. "It's a surprise." He stuck his hands back into his pockets. "So, where's the junk area?"

Asami led the way out back past the garage shop, where old defects and parts of former Equalist weapons were stashed, waiting for the Republic City red tape to finally process and have it carted away. "What do you need any of this for?" she asked.

Bolin glanced around, kicking the heel of his boot against the ground several times. "...Demonstration," he said, sitting himself up on a section of a platinum battle tank that had been dismantled. He shifted into lotus position, the backs of his hands resting on his knees.

Asami watched him, her brow furrowed in confusion; what was he doing? For the longest time, there was nothing, then she began to hear the sound of things being shifted around. She looked around until she saw an old defect Satomobile shifting and shuddering. Slowly, it began to compress and contort, as though being crushed in on itself. Eyes widening with realization, she turned to Bolin, whose right hand was slowly closing into a fist. After two long minutes, his hand and the Satomobile were clenched tightly.

Bolin exhaled hard, flexing his hand, smirking. "I'm a Metalbender now," he stated. "Neat, huh?"

Asami slowly nodded. It WAS impressive, yes. "...What are you going to do with it?" she asked before she could stop herself. Rather than getting defensive, Bolin instead put on a contemplative face.

"...Make my life easier," he finally said, a small grin on his face. Asami couldnt help but shudder at just what Metalbending could DO to make his life easier. She told herself she didnt want to know. It was best she DIDNT know.

"So," Bolin continued, standing up and brushing his pants free of dirt. "The semi-finals of the non-bending fights are coming up." His dark, bemused grin returned. "Care to come cheer me on?"

Asami visibly paled and Bolin burst out laughing. "Dont worry, Princess Sato, I was just joking," he said. "I know well enough that seeing even more of my 'personal life' would only cause more damage to your already cracked psyche." He poked her forehead almost playfully. "Toughen up; you wanted to see under my mask, didnt you? It wasnt even my patented Bolin Stone Cold Torture Session, and you were close to having a nervous breakdown."

More paling at the B-S-C-T-S. "...What is it you actually DO, Bolin..." Asami murmured, mostly to herself. Bolin's smile resembled the one he first gave her back before any of this. False innocence. Cold indifference. Mocking.

"Asami," he said, eyes laughing at her with cruel delight, "you couldnt handle knowing what it is I do." He reached forward and stroked a lock of her hair almost fondly. "Ignorance is a luxury I feel you can afford to have. There's no comfort at all in the truth, despite this obsession you seem to have with knowing everything about me." He took a step closer to her, and it was all Asami could do not to take a step back as he leaned forward, nuzzling the side of her head. "You can ignore the ignorance and dig all you want, Princess," he said, his voice sending tendrils of dark, icy coldness down her spine. "...But you wont like what you find."

He pulled back, giving her a quick kiss before heading back to the mansion. Asami followed, visibly shaken, and didnt complain when Bolin raided the liquor cabinet, taking out a bottle of very expensive whisky she recognized as a gift from some party guest to her father. He popped the cork and took a long swig, not grimacing the slightest at its strength, then recorked it and slipped it into his jacket pocket.

"...On another note, Asami," he said, giving her a very rare almost-genuine smile, "I wanted to ask if you would like to go to the theatre with me."

Asami blinked at the sudden, odd invitation. "What for?" she asked, half-expecting it to be a front for a more sinsiter purpose on his behalf.

"On a date, what else?" he snorted, crossing his arms. "We've been sleeping together for, what? Almost nine months now? I for one havent been with anyone else. Have you?"

She immediately shook her head; she had long ago known that Bolin was extremely possessive of her to the point of violence. She had heard about what happened days after her birthday party to the jeweler's son - he had turned up missing for two days only to be found in an alley in Red Monsoon territory, both arms dislocated and their bones grotesquely snapped and shattered. He still as of yet hadnt spoken a word about it, and was reported as bursting into hysterics whenever asked.

But even before then, she could feel the beast-like territorial aura from a mile away, which put off any thought of dating on the side. Besides, she didnt think she could handle a 'normal' relationship anymore, not after all of this.

"Good." He kissed her forehead. "I'll pick you up at eight tomorrow night."

Asami nodded. "I'll see you then," she replied, walking with him to the door. Bolin headed out, waving goodbye, passing Lin Beifong en route, to whom he barely gave a passing glance.

Lin stared at Bolin's retreating back for a few moments before turning to Asami. "What was he doing here?" she asked. Asami averted her eyes.

"...Just visiting to say hello," she replied, shutting the door behind Lin and leading her back to the garage.


	9. Chapter 8

At 7:45, Asami found herself ready to go out for the night with Bolin.

She was wearing a crimson and black evening gown with matching gloves that came to her elbows. Her hair was done up in a simple but elegant half-braid knot, and her birthday brooch, though off-color with the rest of her outfit, was pinned neatly to her dress.

After last evening, and the night of the first round of non-bending fights, she felt it was in her best interest to be on Bolin's good side and stay there. He might have spoken about her not having dug deep, but she felt as though she was in a hole too deep to pull herself out of.

And Bolin was right, she thought, tucking stray strands out of her face. She WAS obsessed with him and the layers that he was made up of. It wasnt exactly something she was proud of, and quite frankly, she began questioning her own sanity because of it.

But Bolin hadnt hurt her thus far, and she knew that it was because on some level, he cared about her. He LIKED her. And she knew that Bolin didnt like much of anyone or anything, and she found herself grateful; she had heard his angered musings about Korra breaking his heart and Mako's 'brother betrayal', and although his happy face around them was so convincing Lin Beifong couldnt detect a lie, she knew that if he could get away with it, he'd go through with his musings.

It was 7:58. He'd be here soon.

She applied a quick spritz of perfume to her chest and stood up, straightening her dress before heading off to the foyer. It was just as one of the clocks chimed 8:00 when the doorbell rang. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door.

"Evening, Princess," Bolin said, smiling. "You're looking lovely tonight." He was wearing a dark green jacket unbuttoned over a black waistcoat and leaf-green shirt, both over black trousers. His hair was styled differently, more pulled to the side than slicked back, making him look older than seventeen. "Ready to go?"

Asami nodded and took the arm he offered her, letting him lead her to a limousine, and slipped inside. He got in the other end, and the limo took off toward the theatre house.

It was as though the situation was mocking her; normal limo ride to the normal theatre house to see a normal opera with Bolin acting...normal. It was like this was just a normal date. She WISHED it was just a normal date. But she had learned so long ago that wishes like that were pipe dreams, and she had to just go with it. No matter how mockingly normal it seemed in the beginning.

The ride to the theatre was short and quiet, and Bolin escorted her out of the limo like a gentleman, leading her up to the theatre house. He gave the usher the tickets and walked Asami up to the balcony. Asami waited for the second proverbial shoe to drop, but Bolin just sat back in his chair and watched as the lights dimmed and the curtain rose.

Asami had heard of this opera, but hadnt yet had the chance to see it. She only knew that it was about a princess who fell in love with a common boy. The story progressed further, much further, than that.

The princess was betrothed to a prince and set to be married, and fell in love with the common boy, who turned out to be a member of a society bent on overthrowing the king. After they fell in love, she didnt retaliate when the boy assassinated her father, and she ran away from her betrothed to be with the boy. But then she discovered the boy already had another love, and returned, brokenhearted, to her people. As punishment for her crimes, the prince who had loved her and whom she betrayed burned her alive.

It was a beautifully done opera, and Asami was in tears by the end, but even through her sad enjoyment of the opera, she couldnt help but listen to those niggling little doubts in the back of her mind. Bolin, as a rule, wouldnt have JUST brought her out to see an opera as a casual date night. He WANTED her to see this opera.

But why?

After the lights came back on, Bolin assisted her up and walked with her out to the lobby, where people were exchanging commentary over the opera, the critics giving their feedback and the columnists writing thier opinions.

"And how did you like the opera, Miss Sato?"

Asami looked up when a mousy journalist girl -probably an intern- smiled at her, pen poised over her paper. Asami paused, glancing at Bolin, who gave her a smile and an encouraging nod in his 'public' manner.

"...It was very sad," Asami said. "But very beautifully done. Honestly the best tragedy I've seen."

The journalist wrote it all down with ferver, glancing up at Bolin before doing a double-take. "...You're Bolin, of the Fire Ferrets, arent you?" she asked, her eyes aglow with admiration Asami frequently saw in young women when addressing Bolin.

"Sure am," Bolin replied, his 'public' smile still in place. "And I agree with Asami one-hundred percent. I'm not that into opera, but I'd recommend it."

The journalist made a soft squee-ing sound in the back of her throat as she wrote that down too. "It was an honor meeting you both!" she said. "Thanks!" She hurried off, and Asami had the feeling she and Bolin just gave that girl a good start in her career.

"Ready to go, Asami?" Bolin asked, not bothering at all to keep his voice down. Asami put on a convincing enthusiastic smile and nodded, taking his arm as he led the way back to the waiting limousine, helping her in before sliding inside himself.

Oddly enough, his good mood felt genuine, in Asami's opinion. For a split second, she wildly thought that the Bolin she once thought she knew was back, but the second passed, and she was brought back into reality. Even if this WAS just a date, Asami knew that everything Bolin did nowadays had a purpose, and she seriously doubted that the purpose of tonight was to show Asami a good time.

The limo pulled up to her gate, and Bolin walked her into her house, still smiling. "So," he said, glancing at her, "did you REALLY enjoy the opera?"

Asami nodded. "I did..." she said. "...Bo, why did you take me to see THAT opera?"

Bolin didnt answer right away as he poured himself a tumbler of scotch from the mini-bar of her lounge. He knocked the drink back before answering. "Because it's such a silly allusion to life, isnt it?" he said, Asami not knowing if he was speaking to her or himself. "Princess Asami falling in love with a common boy who helps bring down King Sato...which she assists in doing..." He poured himself another full tumbler. "But it turns out, lover-boy has a girl of his own, and Princess Asami comes back brokenhearted..."

Asami saw a hint of a sinister smile before he knocked back the tumbler, and became aware that her hands were shaking slightly. She clasped them together to make it less noticable. "...It's a bit cruel to drag up the past like that, dont you think?" she demanded softly. Bolin made a faux-contemplative noise.

"If you think of it like that." He took the bottle and tumbler with him as he sat down on the sofa. "But think of it like this, Princess Asami..." Another glass poured and knocked back. "...At least you werent burned alive."

Asami gave him a glare. "No," she bit out. "But I DID have my heart broken. Not just by my boyfriend, but by my father too."

"That you did." Bolin put the bottle on the table next to him. "But you can live with a broken heart." He made a flamboyant gesture at himself. "Living proof."

Oh. Right.

"But that would be looking WAY too much into it," he said, his smile brightening slightly. "Maybe I took you there to cruelly poke at the past. Maybe I took you there just as a date. Maybe both. Either way, you enjoyed yourself, yeah?"

Asami sighed. "...I did," she said, suddenly feeling exhausted. "...I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Bolin." She slipped upstairs, pulling off her jewelry and hair pins en route, dropping them carelessly on the vanity, but took off her birthday brooch and carefully put it back into its case. She sighed and glanced up to brush out her hair and nearly jumped when she saw Bolin in the mirror's reflection.

Without a word, Bolin picked up her hairbrush and slid it through her hair. About one-hundred strokes in, he said, "I enjoyed tonight too." He put the hairbrush down on her vanity and slipped the shoulders of her dress down, leaning down to kiss her neck. "Every...moment...of it..."


	10. Chapter 9

The next morning, Tenzin, Lin, and Mako all spewed out the coffee /or tea they were drinking when they saw the headline of the paper.

**Sato Heiress and Pro-Bending Star At the Opera**

The title alone wasnt shocking; it was the picture that accompanied it. Bolin and Asami were arm-in-arm, exiting the theatre house. Bolin was smiling brightly at Asami, who looked like she enjoyed herself immensely. The summary of the article included their opinions on the opera along with some commentary about them being the new hot topic couple.

Tenzin hid the article from Korra for the time being, and Mako made it burst into flame without meaning to.

Asami, on the other hand, sighed when she saw it. Now everyone would know they were 'together', and only the ballsy and stupid would try to come between them. Somehow, she knew that's what Bolin was hoping for. And now they were officially a 'couple'. She couldnt WAIT to hear her friends' opinions on THAT.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she felt a kiss on her neck. "Good morning, Princess," Bolin said, smirking at the newspaper article. "Damn, we look good, dont we?"

Asami sighed, putting the paper down. "Sure," she said, massaging her temples. "I can just imagine what Mako and Korra will have to say about this -"

"It's none of their goddamn business," Bolin cut in, sitting down at the table next to her. "And you can tell them as such." He grabbed a piece of fruit from the bowl and bit into it. "They ditched us for each other, they have no say-so in the matter."

She bit down a retort and finished her breakfast, turning the page of the newspaper to read something other than the front page, and found the list of people whose bending were recently returned. "...Ming, Shaozu, and Tahno got their bending back yesterday," she said.

Bolin snorted. "Those dickwads were better off without it," he said. "They should've been Blacklisted."

"Maybe they're better people now that they've been through all this," she replied. "Korra mentioned Tahno seemed a lot less..." She searched for a proper adjective.

"...asshole-ish?" Bolin supplied.

"Yes, that, since she last saw him."

"Doesnt matter." Bolin finished his fruit. "People like him have their balls in their bending. Now that he has it back, he'll depend on it. His kind never changes."

Asami nibbled her lip in thought. Now that she thought about it, a lot of the benders, the gangs and their leaders included, became so weak and subdued, rising up only when they were denied what was theirs. Bolin, being strong and skilled without his bending, was apparantly NOT one of 'those kind'.

"You busy today?"

The question snapped her out of her musings. "...Not particularly," she replied. "Why?"

"Let's go out," he said, grinning like a wolfbat. "Hit the west end, have a few drinks."

More 'normal' date stuff, and more underlying reasons for doing such things. But right now, she wasnt ready to split hairs. "...Sure, Bo," she said. She could use a few drinks.

"Awesome. I'll pick you up this afternoon, I have errands to run." He stood up, walking over to give her a kiss. "See ya." Asami listened for the sound of the front door shutting before putting her face in her hands.

Gods...this was getting to be too much of a headache.

* * *

Bolin came back around 2:30, wearing a catgator-skin driving jacket over sturdy pants and a dark green shirt. "Ready to go?" he asked. Asami nodded, blinking when Bolin handed her a helmet and goggles. "We're taking my bike today."

Asami shrugged and slipped the helmet and goggles on, walking out with Bolin to the motorbike she gave him. He slid on, waited until she was situated behind him, then bent the crystal inside the bike to rev it up before taking off down the road.

Bolin was a speed demon, come to find, and he didnt wear any of the safety gear that was highly suggested he wear on the road. It didnt deter him a bit, and he only slowed down when he came within the inner city limits, coming to a stop in front of his favorite restaurant, Narook's. She had never eaten there before, but she always heard Bolin rave about it.

They quickly found a table in the back, and Bolin enthusiastically -and genuinely, Asami noticed- ordered his first round of seaweed noodles and a bottle of sea wine. Asami ordered the same, minus the wine, and instead got a cup of hot tea for herself.

The food WAS good here. It wasnt anything fancy, but she loved the rustic flavoring of Water Tribe cuisine. She finished her bowl of noodles and reached for the bowl of seaweed-and-sea-salt appetizer crackers when Bolin stood up.

"I'll be back in a minute," he said, heading for the washrooms. Asami shrugged to herself and nibbled on the crackers, which were rather flavorful.

"Well hello there, Miss Sato."

Asami looked up when addressed, seeing Tahno looming over her table, and resisted the urge to let out a sigh of annoyance. Back in his Pro-Bending days, Tahno always tried to get her attention, but she always found him so damn arrogant, it nearly made her puke.

"Tahno," she replied. "I see you've gotten your hair to behave again." She allowed a hint of a smile show when one of Tahno's groupies let out a snort, causing Tahno's eye to twitch slightly.

"...Right," he said, sitting himself down in Bolin's seat. "So, making your way through the other loser brother, are you?" He snorted. "I dont see why you're bothering, Asami, he's even more pathetic than the hothead. You're just wasting your time. You should be putting your efforts into someone with more class -"

"Like YOU, right?" Asami cut in, crossing her arms, sounding as condescending as she could. "Sorry, Tahno, but I dont date jerks."

"Didnt stop you from dating lover-boy Mako, did it?" Tahno shot back, looking irritated by now. "Stringing you along while making lovey-eyes at the Uh-vatar the whole time?"

"Fuck you!" Asami snarled, her eyes flashing, her hostility actually startling Tahno for a moment. "You dont have ANY right to bring that up to me!"

"Hey, just stating the obvious, Asami," he said, spreading his hands as though showing her the point. "As much of a loser the rockhead is, he's got the ladies lining up for him almost as much as they do for me. What's gonna happen when he ditches you t -" He was cut off when he was grabbed by the back of his shirt and thrown out of the chair and into the wall. He shook off the shock and looked up to see Bolin standing next to the table, the younger male's green eyes flashing with cold rage.

"Tahno," Bolin said, his voice almost casual and conversational despite the malestrom in his eyes. "I see having your bending snatched from a fellow Waterbender did nothing to curb that nasty 'tude of yours." Tahno glowered at Bolin, jumping to his feet and brushing himself off. "Nor did having Korra restore it humble you any. Dont you have a salon appointment to keep or something? Anything, really, to rid this restaurant of the stench of WAY too many hair products?"

Tahno floundered for a brief moment, having never had Bolin throw the first verbal punch. He quickly recovered and gave the younger boy a sneer. "Cute display of words, Bo-Bo," he retaliated. "Dont YOU have an Uh-vatar to go pine over instead of getting your big brother's leftovers?"

Bolin's eyes grew even colder, a sneer of his own directed back at Tahno. "Tell me, Tahno," he said, his fists clenching and the earthware dishes quivering, "is being an arrogant slut a Waterbending trait, or is it just a trait of the inbred cousin-fuckers you Swamp people are known for being?"

Shocked silence and gaped mouths were aplenty in Tahno's little group at Bolin's verbal groin-shot. Tahno had gone dark red with fury and humilation. "YOU DIRTY LITTLE ORPHAN STREET RAT!" he shrieked, diving at Bolin with his fist raised to strike. Bolin snatched Tahno's fist right out of the line of fire, twisted hard, and pinned Tahno face-first into the wall, one arm bent almost to breaking point behind his back. Bolin kept Tahno's face compressed to the wall with one hand, leaning in to whisper darkly.

"I may be a dirty little orphan street rat..." He rotated his wrist slightly, making Tahno gasp with pain. "...But it's better than being a dirty little weakling like you." Another slight rotation, and Tahno bit his lip as he felt the resistance on his bone weaken. "I'm done being your little bitch to push around, Tahno...fuck with me again, and you'll be wiping your bone marrow off these walls, do you understand me?"

Tahno whimpered from fear and the effort it took not to scream in pain. Bolin scowled, clenching his hand into Tahno's hair hard. "I SAID, do you UNDERSTAND ME!?"

"YES!" Tahno hollered. Bolin snorted and let Tahno go, throwing him back into his little entourage.

"Good," he said. "Now apologize to Asami and get the fuck out of here."

Tahno swallowed hard, flicking his eyes to Asami, who had gone pale, but now looked relieved. "I'm...s...sorry..." he choked out, glancing back at Bolin. Bolin's eyes narrowed fractionally, and Tahno quickly vacated, his reputation, composure, and dignity in tatters.

Bolin was aware the other restaurant-goers were staring, but he picked his chair back up and sat back down, sipping his sea wine. "It's like I said," he said so softly only Asami could hear, "his kind never changes."


	11. Chapter 10

Mako and Korra had finally gotten time off at the same time, and naturally, they took that time off to catch a Pro-Bending match. Tonight it was the newly-formed Tigerdillos versus the Hog Monkeys, and then the Eel Hounds versus the Wolfbats. The Hog Monkeys won their game, and naturally, the Wolfbats won theirs. Korra was proud to see that Tahno and his teammates didnt cheat and won their game fairly.

After the match, Korra slipped down to congradulate them while Mako picked up a roster form for upcoming matches.

"Good game, Tahno," she said, smiling. Tahno glanced at her, giving her the strangest of looks.

"Thanks, Uh-vatar," he replied, fixing his hair, saying not much else. Korra frowned a little.

"...You feeling alright?" she asked. Tahno's shoulders stiffened slightly.

"...Just fine, Uh-vatar. Nothing to worry your pretty head over."

Korra's brow furrowed; that was very un-Tahno-like. She opened her mouth to question more when Mako walked up, reading the roster and looking confused.

"This cant be right," he muttered to himself. "The Fire Ferrets arent on the roster at all..." Tahno snorted softly.

"Of course they arent," he said, rolling his eyes. "Your brother resigned the entire team from the Federation over a month ago, where HAVE you been?" He managed a smirk at Mako and Korra's expressions.

"He WHAT?" Korra nearly shouted. "Why would he do that? He loves Pro-Bending!" Mako shook his head, just as lost as she was.

"I dont know," he said. "I dont know ANYTHING these days! First he moves out, then he's getting on the front page of the paper with Asami with that bogus claim they're dating and now THIS!?"

"'Bogus'?" Tahno snorted, shuddering slightly. "Trust me, Hothead, it's not 'bogus'. I ran into them just two days ago, and trust me, he's staked his claim on her." He flexed his right hand almost unconsciously. "Son of a bitch nearly took my hand off for insinuating he was playing her."

Mako scowled, filling for himself why Tahno would say that. "Hey, you shouldnt have even brought that up -!"

"Save it, Hothead," Tahno snapped, looking defensive. "I already got laid out by your psycho brother, no need to add to it."

"Bolin is not a psycho," Korra defended, scowling. "Yeah, he's kinda protective, but -"

"He's a psycho," Tahno insisted, glaring at them. "He called me an inbred cousin-fucker, twisted my arm until it nearly broke, and said if I fucked with him again, he'd spray my bone marrow across the wall of Narook's. He's a psycho." He slung his bag over his shoulder. "Later." Without giving them a second look, he left the Arena.

Mako and Korra watched him leave before turning to each other. "...He couldnt be serious," Mako said. "I mean, yeah, Bolin's being a little rebellious now, but he's not a violent person..." Korra nodded, but looked pensieve.

"...maybe we should talk to him," she said. "We havent really done anything together for about nine months..." Mako flinched a little at the reminder of how long it had been since he REALLY spent time with his brother.

"You're right," he said, sighing. "We should all go do something."

"...where does he live, anyway?" Korra mused.

* * *

Asami took the time to glance around at Bolin's new apartment as she sipped the coffee he'd brought out. She had to admit, Bolin had some good taste. Most everything was either stoneware or metal, and the upholstry was leather. In his living room was a tapestry with the symbol of the Earth Kingdom proudly displayed over the mantle. Pabu scurried out of the room claimed as his own and curled up in Asami's lap when Bolin came back in with some chocolate crackers to nibble on.

"So, how do you like it?" he asked, sipping his own coffee that he spiked with some whisky. Asami smiled.

"It's cozy," she said. "Much homier than the mansion."

"Care to trade?" Bolin said, smirking. "I could make use of a mansion."

"Anytime you're ready for a move, feel free to do all that packing." Asami scratched Pabu behind the ears, smiling when the fire ferret yawned and curled up tighter. Bolin gave her a rare genuine smile and sipped his coffee, then frowned and glanced at the door. "...Bo, what is it -?"

A knock on the door answered that for her. "Who could that be?" she asked. Bolin's frown darkened.

"One guess," he replied, standing and answering the door.

"Oh thank the Spirits, this is the right address," Korra said, still looking around dubiously. "What's up, Bo?"

Bolin arched a brow. "...A quiet evening at home," he said, knowing it had to have been just a matter of time before Mako and Korra found out where he lived. "And you two?"

Korra glanced at Mako. "We...wanted to hang out," she said, getting a little unnerved by Bolin's unblinking staring. "Sooo...you wanna...hang out?"

"I'm a little busy tonight," Bolin replied. "Maybe some other time." He made a move to close the door, but Mako's hand held it open.

"Bolin, I havent REALLY sat down to talk to you, hang out, or spend time with you," he said. "A LOT of things have happened between the whole Amon thing and now, and we havent really talked about it! You're my brother, and I just want to know that you're okay."

Bolin frowned, knowing that Mako wouldnt drop this unless he threw him a bone. He sighed and opened the door, stepping aside. Mako gave Bolin a smile and stepped in with Korra, pausing when he saw Asami sitting on the couch. "Asami? What're you doing here?" he asked.

"I told you, I was busy tonight," Bolin said, sitting down next to Asami, putting his arm around her shoulders, eliciting amusing reactions from Mako and Korra.

"Asami? Are you dating Bolin?" Korra asked, hardly believing that Tahno could be right. Asami gave Korra a one-shouldered shrug.

"Not that it's any of your business," she said, "but yes. I am." She DID find some humor in the twitch that appeared in Mako's eye.

"When did THIS happen!?" Mako managed to choke out. Asami's eyes narrowed; Bolin was right, she thought. 'None of your goddamn business' really WAS an appropriate response.

"Uhm..." Bolin said, pretending to think about it, "...around the time we got back from the South Pole, and you two were too busy to help Asami with anything." He bit down a smirk at their shame-flushed faces. "So I helped her out, and we got closer."

Awkward silence.

"...Hey, Bo..." Korra began, wringing her hands. "...We...talked to Tahno earlier today..." She glanced at Mako. "...He told us some...pretty bogus things..."

"What, about how I called him out on being a cheating inbred cousin-fucker and threatened his bone marrow if he fucked with me or Asami again?" Bolin examined his fingernails. Mako and Korra's eyes went wide with incredulousness. "...I see he didnt leave out any details of our encounter two days ago."

"...Bolin, why would you do something like that?" Korra asked. "It's not like you at all -"

"So you expected me to sit back and be Tahno's punching bag and LET him insult me and Asami?" Bolin cut in, his eyes and tone going hard. "I'm sick and tired of being everyone's doormat, and if telling that poncy dickwad off gets him off my back and makes him leave Asami alone, then so be it."

"But quitting Pro-Bending?!" Mako spoke up. "Moving out without telling me? For gods' sakes, Bolin, WHAT is going on with you!?"

"Maybe I'm growing up, Mako, you ever thought of that?" Bolin glared at his brother, his eyes and tone ice cold. "Or am I still that weak, helpless baby brother you INSIST on treating me like!?" He clenched his fists before he accidently Earthbent something he shouldnt. "I dont need Pro-Bending, I dont need your help, and I DONT need your opinion on how to run my life!"

"How can you SAY things like that!?" Korra cried, horrified. "Mako has done nothing but be there for you ALL your life! He loves you, and just wants to know WHY you're being so hateful all of a sudden -!" She cut off when three stoneware decorations shattered violently, sending shrapnel flying. Korra managed to bend them away from her and Mako, but she noticed not a single piece came near Bolin or Asami.

"...Get out." Bolin let his mask slip down all the way just long enough to impress his disdain upon his brother and Korra, and for one split second, they could see inhumanly cold eyes and an expression of pure and utter loathing, but then it was gone and replaced with intense irritation and normal anger.

Still, preservation instincts drove Mako and Korra to head for the door, though they gave Bolin one last look of desperation before departing.

Still with his arm around her, Asami was practically crushing herself against Bolin, trembling with fear. Bolin glared a hole into the opposite wall before exhaling hard, the scent of killing intent in the air vanishing and his body untensing. Asami slowly stopped shaking and Pabu poked his head out from underneath the couch cushion.

"...They'll interrogate you for answers, Asami," Bolin said, his voice oddly dead-sounding. Asami bit her lip hard, forcing her hands to unclench from the coffee cup she was still holding.

"...I'll tell them nothing," she replied, shakily setting the cup down on the coffee table, closing her eyes when Bolin kissed the top of her head.

"Good," was all he said.


	12. Chapter 11

Asami let out a heavy sigh, pushing the red tape paperwork away from her, thinking it would be easier to just get an assistant at this point. There was just too much to keep up with on her own. Rubbing her temples, she blinked away the tiredness in her eyes to check the time.

1:46 in the morning. She sighed, thinking that going to the non-bending fight to watch Bolin would have been a better use of her time. He didnt force her to go, and then, she didnt want to. She had seen quite enough of his temper to last her for a LONG time.

Even so, the fights should have ended an hour ago, and he'd no doubt be here soon, victorious, as always.

Asami sighed again and pushed back from the desk, heading into the kitchen to make herself more coffee. En route, she thought she heard something in the dark hall, but saw that it was only the flutter of curtains from an half-open window. She shut the window and rubbed her arms, wondering why the staff had left it open anyway when it was nearing winter.

She finally made it into the kitchen and began boiling the water for her coffee. Without warning, her intuition sent her a five-alarm warning a split second before she was snatched up by two pairs of hands and one of her kitchen knives was pressed to her throat.

"I wonder how much of her blood it would take to rattle that little pest," she heard the man holding the knife say.

"That psychotic bastard aint rattled by blood, Nako, you should know considerin' what he left on the arena floor tonight," the other voice said, sounding both pissed off and scared. "We shouldnt even BE here, what if he -?"

"He's too busy havin' a pissing match with Zaku to even know we're here, Onno!" Nako growled. "So by the time he GETS here, all he'll have is his dead whore girlfriend to look at! It's what he DESERVES for killin' off my brother!" The knife against Asami's throat pressed closer, and Asami began trembling with fear. "Zolt an' the others are too scared shitless to DO anything about that maniac, but I aint!"

While Asami heard the other one mutter on about how they were both dead if Bolin ever found out, Asami quickly thought back to what her self-defense instructor taught her about being held at knife-point. She twitched around a little to see just where their hands were, then quickly twisted her body around, freed one of her hands, knocked the knife away, then slammed her elbow into the face of of one more concerned with Bolin's wrath than her demise.

With him temporarily displaced, Asami turned to the other, and jerked back just in time to avoid a fist in her face. She snatched the fist out of the air, then twisted around to drive her elbow into his face too, followed quickly by a heel-kick to his kneecap.

He dropped like a sack of rocks, gasping from the pain of his shattered kneecap, and Asami prepared for a deathblow when she was tackled from behind by the other man and pinned to the floor, her arms pinned behind her back.

"Fuckin' bitch!" the man who had the knife spat, grabbing a handful of her hair and pulling hard. Asami bit back a yelp of pain and struggled to get free as he picked the knife back up. "I'm gonna enjoy this FAR more than I should, you whore!"

"You know? So will I."

Both men looked up at the fourth party in the kitchen only to get bricks right to their faces, throwing them away from Asami. Asami bolted up and scurried back on the floor, looking up to see Bolin standing over her, looking more homicidal then she had ever seen him.

Nako shook off his shock and snarled at Bolin. "You fucking lunatic brat!" he spat, jumping to his feet, his hand still clenched around the knife. "You killed my brother!" Bolin gave him a look that very plainly said 'I dont give a fuck'.

"He was weak," Bolin said. "And he died outside the ring, so it didnt count as me 'killing' him." He didnt even react when Nako let out a shriek of rage and dove at him, knife poised to strike. Asami opened her mouth to scream for Bolin to move, but then the knife jerked to a halt not an inch from his face.

Nako struggled to move the knife from the air, but it was stuck tight as though the air was keeping it held in place. Asami blinked and shakily glanced down, seeing Bolin's hand upturned, Metalbending the blade of the knife in place.

"You're just as stupid as he was," Bolin said, his fist shooting out to punch Nako in the sternum, an audible crunch resonating through the kitchen. "But at least HE put up a fight!" He snatched the knife right out of the air then kicked Nako in the chest, cracking a few ribs.

Nako hacked up blood, gasping for air. Bolin glared down at him before whipping around to face Onno, who cowered back against a cabinet in terror. "You." He pointed at Onno with the knife. "You go tell all of those conspiring fuckers who think they can pull one over on me about what happens when they cross me!" With that, he hurled the knife at Nako, putting Metalbending force behind the throw to embed the knife to the hilt between Nako's eyes.

Asami heaved, putting a hand over her mouth, turning away. Onno went as pale as a ghost, a small puddle appearing under him. Bolin picked Nako up by the back of his shirt and tossed him to Onno. "Now pick up his sorry carcass and get the fuck out of here!"

Onno didnt need anymore incentive; he hurled Nako's still-twitching body over his shoulder and sprinted out of the kitchen to a back door.

Bolin turned to Asami, who had just barely managed to keep her vomit down, and picked her up, carrying her up to her bedroom and quietly laid her down on the bed. It was when her head touched the pillow that she finally burst into tears, burying her face in her hands. Bolin let her cry, petting her hair comfortingly.

"...I dont care how many have to return dead, Asami," he said, his voice comforting, yet frosty cold. "...You'll stay safe...nobody will touch you without leaving with tenfold retaliation..." He kissed her temple gently, quietly undressing her and tucking her in.

Long after she cried herself to sleep, curled up in a little ball under her covers, Bolin sat up on the other end of the bed all night, staring almost unblinking at the wall, the dark glow of his eyes unwavering even when the sun rose up.


	13. Chapter 12

'Shady' Shin stepped out of City Hall, pausing for just a step to light a cigarette before going on his way. He had just managed to attain his Waterbending back using his gift of close-faced lying, and for the first time in close to a year, he finally felt whole again.

For the past eleven months, he'd laid low and kept a quiet profile, so even though his name HAD been on the Bending Blacklist, when his appeal came up, he had no other points against him, so keeping under Chief Beifong's lie detection radar had been easier than he thought. Either way, he thought with dry humor, Zolt was going to be less than happy to know about it.

But he had business with Zolt, and he knew better than to rub Zolt's face in it. The former Firebender might not have his bending but he still had a mean right hook.

He slipped into Zolt's office and took a seat. "Evening, Boss," he said. Zolt's newfound facial tick resurfaced.

"Shin," he said as civilly as he could muster. "Always a pleasure to see your face, especially after almost a year of hiding under everyone's radar."

Shin shrugged a little. "Self-preservation, Boss, that's all there was to it," he said. "So, how are things on your end?" He saw Zolt's expression turn wary and weary, something he hadnt ever really seen before. Zolt poured himself a shot of whisky and knocked it back.

"Your protege," Zolt said slowly, "is out of control."

"Bolin?" Shin asked, arching a brow as Zolt visibly twitched. "What about him?" Zolt's hand clenched hard around the tumbler, his jaw mirroring the action.

"...I dont know WHAT exactly you and Ton Lee instilled in that boy, but it's created a potent combination of sadism and psychopathy the likes of which I've never seen in another human being before. He's completely dominating the non-bending fights, leaving every single competitor without the use of their arms...ONE arm, if they're LUCKY...!" He knocked back another shot. "...Some of the gang are dissappearing, Shin...and not just from ours...four Agni Kais and two Red Monsoons are missing...ALL of them having done SOMETHING to piss that maniac off."

Shin snorted softly. "I told you," he said, a hint of a smirk on his face, totally ignoring the growl Zolt was throwing his way. "I told you, Ton Lee told you...we told you over and over again that Bolin was different..." His blue eyes almost seemed to laugh at Zolt. "I often wondered if you had ever really paid attention to the whispers from behind the scenes...if you ever wondered WHY your payout increased after I took over from Ton Lee as the kid's mentor. I even wondered if you even knew WHY we in the know called him 'Bonecrusher Bolin' -"

"I KNOW, goddamnit!" Zolt shouted, slamming his tumbler down on the desk. "I SAW it! I SAW what the psycho did to that stoolie two years ago! Something like that is TOO disgusting to forget!"

"And yet, you said the boy had no real value to the gang," Shin mocked, leaning back in his chair. "Ton Lee's word alone should have insured Bolin's spot as Ton Lee's replacement right after he was carted off to prison, and THAT was just when the kid was twelve!"

"It went too far, Shin!" Zolt spat. "You havent been to the non-bending fights, have you? You havent seen him mutilate opponent after opponent, going so far as to twist a man's arm clean off! I didnt know what was worse, the sight of it or the smell of vomit in the arena right after! And THEN the stiff's brother shows up the day after with a knife stuck straight through his goddamn head!" He slammed his fist on the desk. "He has to STOP!"

Shin shook his head a little. "Dunno what to say, Boss," he said, making a careless gesture. "What about his brother?"

"What ABOUT Mako?"

"Ahhh...right...Mako still doesnt know..." He snorted. "I wouldnt think so...Bolin's emotional mask surpassed mine in talent when he was just thirteen, why should it falter now?" He let out a humorless bark of laughter. "Suffice to say, if Mako doesnt know, then the Avatar doesnt know." Another careless gesture. "Personally? I'd talk to them."

Zolt gave him a look of incredulousness. "You have GOT to be joking," he said.

"Am I EVER?" Shin shot back. "You want this to stop or not?"

Silence.

"Fine." Zolt knocked back what was left in the whisky bottle. "Anything to stop the damn nightmares..."

* * *

Mako had taken to spending his free time on Air Temple Island since Bolin had moved out. It wasnt only suddenly lonely without his little brother, but it was depressing. The loneliness and depression only intensified after that failure of a visit to Bolin's new apartment.

The unconscious Earthbending. That dark tone. That look of pure loathing that sent Mako into shivers everytime he thought about it.

That WASNT his brother.

Bolin was always happy and caring, never giving anyone a cruel word, and told Mako EVERYTHING, no matter how trivial. He didnt realize how much he missed and appreciated THAT Bolin until the day Bolin strolled into the police station to SCOFF at Mako's panic and worry.

He didnt care what Chief Befong or Korra said. That wasnt just a late bloom of rebellion. It was like Bolin's sweet personality had been manually perverted and soiled into...THAT. That cocky, spiteful, hateful thug that intimidated Tahno into fear and drove Mako and Korra away with two words and a motherlode of killing intent.

He was unofficialy camping out at the Island in an effort to settle his thoughts and alleviate his loneliness now, reclining back on the bed, still trying to figure out the dark mystery that had become his brother, glancing out the window pensively. He then noticed a ferry making its way over to the Island, which was strange considering this was the one day of the week Tenzin closed the ferries in order to keep the Island quiet for some Airbending ritual or the other.

Ergo, it was worth checking out.

He hopped out of bed and made his way out to head down to the docks, noticing Korra and Tenzin already ahead of him. The ferry docked and a man met a waiting Acolyte to exchange words. Mako caught up to Korra and Tenzin just as the Acolyte made his way back over.

"Who's coming here at this time?" Tenzin asked. "The ferry is supposed to be closed until the twilight."

The Acolyte looked as confused as Tenzin, but for a different reason. "Master Tenzin, the ferryman said Lightning Bolt Zolt requests an audience with Avatar Korra...and Mako."

Korra and Mako shot each other a look of incredulousness. "What does he want with us?" Korra demanded.

"I only know what the ferryman has told me, Avatar Korra."

Tenzin glanced at Korra and Mako for a moment, thinking. "...He doesnt have his bending back just yet, does he?"

"No," Korra replied, shaking her head. "He's number one on the Bending Blacklist. Do you think he's here to demand it back himsef?"

"If he was, then why would he want to talk to ME too?" Mako asked.

Silence.

"...Let him come," Tenzin told the Acolyte. "But let him know that I will be present when he speaks, and that he will be evicted if he becomes confrontational."

The Acolyte bowed and walked over to speak to the ferryman, who went back onto the ferry. A few moments later, Zolt stepped off of the ferry, heading over without a word or acknowledgement to the Acolyte, and stood in front of Korra and Mako.

"What is it you want, Zolt?" Mako demanded, crossing his arms. He was sorely tempted to Firebend his former somewhat-employer right off of the docks, but he knew the rules of the Island and strove to obey them. Zolt gave Mako a strange look -something between pity and irritation- and nodded to Korra and Tenzin.

"Is there anyplace we can speak privately?" he asked, shifting his eyes conspiringly, like he was being followed or watched. Tenzin frowned, but turned and headed back onto the Island, signaling for the others to follow. Nobody spoke a word until they reached the family's dinner room, shutting and locking the door behind him once everyone was inside.

"Why have you come here, Zolt?" he demanded. Zolt took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair before sitting down, looking like he had aged ten years since Mako had last seen him.

"...I've come with a warning," he said, his tone dead serious, turning to Korra and Mako. "It's about Bolin."

Mako's eyes narrowed. "What about him?" he demanded, new theories about his brother's change in personality surfacing. "What have you done with -!"

"I've done nothing!" Zolt snapped, his amber eyes flashing before closing wearily. "...and that's just the problem. I've done nothing...I DID nothing..."

"...What are you talking about?" Korra asked, sitting across from him. "...Is this about Bolin's...well...?"

"Disgusting and violent attitude?" Zolt supplied, scowling. "Yes. And before you ask, Mako, NO, it isnt because he works for me or anything like THAT." He took a flask out from the inside pocket of his jacket and took a swig, ignoring Tenzin's disapproving stare. "...He's...hidden things from you two. From EVERYONE. Myself included."

"You're gonna have to be a little more specific, Zolt," Korra said, crossing her arms. "Like, why had he suddenly gone from being such a sweet, caring guy to -" She was rudely cut off when Zolt let out a slightly mad bark of laughter. "WHAT?!"

"'Sweet'. 'Caring'. 'NICE'...!" Zolt bit out each word like it was a lie solidified on his tongue. "Bolin hasnt been ANY of those things since he was a kid, if what Shin or Ton Lee told me was true!" He took another swig from the flask.

"That's a lie!" Mako snapped, clenching his fists. "I KNOW Bolin! He's my BROTHER! I THINK I would know if he -!"

"You. Dont. Know. SHIT." Zolt's eyes flashed again, his voice quivering slightly from fear and madness. "Fuck, I dont know shit! Until two years ago, I didnt know a goddamned thing!" He clenched his jaw shut, visibly collecting himself before speaking again. "...You would have to talk to Shin or Ton Lee themselves to really get the whole story...but what I know is enough..."

"For Spirits' sakes, WHAT are you talking about!?" Korra cried, starting to get scared by this point. "What is this about Bolin you know!?"

Zolt gave Korra and Mako long, calculating looks. "...He's insane," he finally said, his voice choked slightly. "He's downright insane...there's no other way to put it..." He shook his head, his eyes now haunted. "...I thought that one time...that incident two years ago was it...gods, I was wrong... The non-bending fights...just that FIRST fight...what he did..."

"...What did he do?" Mako demanded, horrified to think that his little brother had even been a PART of that barbaric underground fight. Zolt shook his head for a moment before letting out a shuddery sigh.

"...He fought against Harkon first," he said. "Harkon didnt get one damn hit in...Bolin...the punishment." Another swig from the flask. "He broke Harkon's sternum as a warning...ground half his face into the stone as a scar..." By this point, Mako's face had drained of blood at the horrible nostalgia of his youth. "...And then snapped his arms right out of the sockets...both of them..."

"There is NO way that's true -!"

"He didnt think Harkon screamed loud enough," Zolt went on, ignoring Korra's protests. "...So he broke the dislocated arms...slowly...painfully..."

Mako's fists slammed into the table. "ENOUGH!" he shouted, heat radiating from his hands in rage. "You son of a bitch, how DARE you come here and tell me these lies about MY little brother! How DARE you!"

"Dont believe me all you want," Zolt growled back, his own fists clenched tightly. "But I was THERE, boy. Zaru was there. Takku was there. We SAW him break the arms of every single person who faced him in that ring! The only two exceptions were a man named Jushi and another named Nabu..." He swallowed hard. "...Jushi tried to run from the match...Bolin declared him a coward and...made sure Jushi would never run again." He ran a shaking hand through his thinning hair. "...Nabu...Nabu you knew, Mako...he was the one who used to kick you around..."

Mako scowled; yes, he remembered Nabu. A nasty older kid, rat-faced and sadistic, but competent in a fight.

"...Nabu got a hit in to Bolin...called him names, called you names...called your father impotent and your mother a slag..." He swallowed hard again. "...Bolin...broke his arm...and just kept twisting it...he ignored Nabu's screams, ignored the referee, ignored the crowd, ignored ME...and twisted Nabu's arm clean off..."

Korra was looking sick to her stomach; Tenzin didnt look any better. Mako was shaking with rage by this point.

"...Nabu died outside the ring, so it didnt count as a 'kill'...but the next day, his brother Nako was brought in...he had a knife stuck to the hilt right between the eyes -"

Mako let out a shriek of fury and dove across the table at Zolt, knocking him back to the floor and throwing punches at his face. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" he screamed, trying to jerk away from Korra and Tenzin. "SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU SON OF A BITCH! THAT'S MY BABY BROTHER YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"

"Mako, stop!" Korra shouted, locking his arms back with her own. Zolt sat up, wiping the blood from his broken nose.

"And I'm speaking the truth," Zolt said, picking his hat up and standing up. "...I've told you what I know...I was hoping you two would put a stop to it...not even the Triple Threat is known for the brutality he's dished out...even I dont condone what he did to the stoolie who sold a quarter of my gang out to the cops! At fifteen, he was already a master of torture -"

"SHUT UP!"

"YOU LISTEN!" Zolt shouted back, growling. "I've told you what I know, Mako! I want that lunatic STOPPED, but since the stupid Council Blacklisted those of us who stand a chance at stopping him and wont give us our bending back, I'm telling YOU! If you know your 'baby brother' as well as you think, then it shouldnt be a problem!" He put his hat back on his head and blotted at his nose with a kerchief, turning to leave.

"...When you feel you can FINALLY believe me, look for Shin," he said softly. "...He practically raised that boy after Ton Lee was done and shipped off to prison...he'll tell you." He unlocked the door and walked out.

Mako jerked against Korra's hold, shouting obscenities after Zolt, breathing fire of rage before finally calming down, reduced to a puddle of tears and angry, unintelligable sobbing. Korra held him tightly, sharing a look with Tenzin.

What Zolt said COULDNT be true, they both thought. Zolt HAD to be lying, or mistaken.

But, they both also thought...what if he wasnt?


	14. Chapter 13

Asami smiled a little to herself as she brought the mail in from outside and saw an envelope addressed to her from the United Forces Penitentiary.

Her father HAD hurt her badly by lying to her, trying to kill her friends, and then trying to kill her, but he was STILL her father. She had kept regular contact with him via mail, about twice a month both ways. He seemed almost pleased and more amiable when she wrote that she had broken up with Mako, so he had kept in touch with her.

She told him about how she had kept Future Industries running, how she had commissions for newer, better transportation for the police, and how she had forgiven him for what he had done, saying that she knew where he was coming from, but blaming ALL benders for the crimes of just a few was wrong.

By now, she felt that she had almost convinced him of the fact, and now she was waiting to hear back from him with this letter. She put her bills and other unimportant things down on the desk and hastily tore open the envelope to read it.

...she had no idea, none at all, that one could literally feel HATE from reading words.

Her father had seen the newspaper article about her and Bolin. He had cut the picture out, drew demon horns over Bolin's head, and inked out her face. In the letter, he'd said...such HATEFUL things. DISGUSTING things. Her hands were shaking and her tears had smudged the lettering by the time she was done with it, and it was all she could do not to scream and cry at the old wounds that her father had just ripped right back open.

* * *

"Knock knock," came Bolin's voice gods-only-knew-how-long later, poking his head around the corner into her office. His pleasant mood plummeted when he saw Asami bent over her desk, her face in her arms, her shoulders shaking with sobs. He walked over to her desk and put his hand on her back. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Why are you crying?" Asami shook her head slightly, saying nothing.

Bolin scowled, glancing down at her desk and seeing the letter and the cut-out article, reaching for it. Before he could take it, Asami snatched the letter and picture up.

"You dont need to see it," she said, wiping her eyes, her eyes flashing as she crumpled it up.

"Asami, what -"

"FORGET ABOUT IT!" She threw the letter into the fireplace with the other balls of paper she found not worth her time to light up later. "Just FORGET about it, Bolin!" She stood up and stalked out of the office. Bolin glanced at the fireplace before following her.

She spoke nothing of it for the rest of the say, and Bolin found it best not to bring it up again. She went to bed early from a massive headache, and Bolin spent a couple of hours lying next to her until he knew she was in deep sleep before silently slipping down to her office.

He picked around the wads of paper before finding the one she had just thrown away, then flattened it out as best he could before reading it.

If he was a Firebender, the letter, the desk, the whole damn office would be in flames by this point.

He stood by what he said before; Hiroshi Sato was a HORRIBLE father. A HORRIBLE excuse of a human being. A HORRIBLE waste of air.

He was only good for one thing, and one thing only at this point...

* * *

"You're leaving?!"

Asami watched as Bolin packed a couple of things into a rucksack before tossing it over his shoulder. "It'll only be for a couple of days, Asami...a week tops."

"But why?" Asami asked, nibbling her lip. Bolin gave her a comforting smile.

"An associate of mine in Fire Nation territory requires something of me," he replied. "I'll go, do my business, and hurry back." He gave her a quick kiss and walked out of his apartment with her. "I'll need you to cover for me, Asami...if anyone asks, tell them I'm in the mountains."

Asami nodded, rubbing her arms. "I will," she promised. Bolin gave her a quick kiss before hopping in the waiting cab and riding off toward the train station. She sighed and put on her helmet before riding back to her home to wait for Bolin's return.

* * *

Hiroshi Sato scowled as a prison guard led him non-too gently to the metal private visitation room, having said he had a very special and important visitor who wished to speak with him. Hiroshi thought that it had to be Asami, here, hopefully, to say she had renounced the other street rat brother. Yes, he MAY have been a little harsh in his letter, but she only needed to see his side of things.

"Right inside, Sato," the guard said, opening the door. Hiroshi stepped inside the very dimly-lit room, where he could see someone sitting at the table, their face hidden in the dim shadow. "Hiroshi Sato, as ordered."

"My many thanks," came a dark male voice from the shadowed figure. "Fifty-thousand yuans are already in your account. You'll get the other fifty when we're safely back in Republic City."

Hiroshi saw the guard give the figure a conspiring smirk. "You got it," the guard said, pushing Hiroshi inside and shutting the door behind him, locking it and leaving him alone with the stranger.

"Please," the stranger said, gesturing to the free seat. "Sit." Hiroshi's eyes narrowed, but he did as he was told, sitting down opposite the strange man, whose face was not only concealed by shadow, but also by a hood over his head.

"Who are you, and what do you want with me?" Hiroshi demanded. He thought he saw a hint of a smirk from under the hood.

"Me? Oh, I'm just an old acquaintance," the figure said, making a careless gesture. "And normally, I wouldnt even be bothering with you, as you're a weak, pathetic excuse of a man with no redeeming feature other than the fact that you sponsored my Pro-Bending team last year...but let's not get into that..."

Hiroshi's eyes widened with realization, and the figure smirked, reaching up to lower his hood, revealing his face.

"What's up, Sato?" Bolin said in his past blase tone, giving Hiroshi a winning smile.

"YOU!" Hiroshi made a move to stand, but Bolin's hands smacked on the surface of the metal table, which contorted into making makeshift cuffs that kept Hiroshi's hands and forearms in place.

"Nuh-uh-uh, none of that," Bolin chastised, wagging a mocking finger at Hiroshi.

"You dirty street rat!" Hiroshi spat, still struggling to get his hands free. "You RUINED my daughter! You and that defiling brother of yours!"

Bolin snerked before letting out a bark of laughter. "Trust me, Sato, Mako did no such 'defiling' in any way. Uptight bastard's probably still a virgin. Asami was getting laid LONG before she even met us. But I digress." He took out a thin sheet of metal and lobbed it at Hiroshi, where it made a tight band around his head and mouth, forming a gag. "Now, down to business." Like a switch had been flipped, Bolin dropped the friendly and placating attitude, giving Hiroshi his full-blown, stone-cold glare of killing intent.

"You piece of lowlife shit," he growled, leaning over the table, looking Hiroshi right in the eye. "You miserable excuse of a father!" He clenched his hands, the metal around Hiroshi's hands tightening. "You think you could call Asami -your own DAUGHTER!- a mistake of your gene pool!? A slut!? A BENDER'S WHORE!?" His hands clenched tighter, and Hiroshi began crying out with pain from having the metal crush his hands and forearms.

Bolin glared at Hiroshi before unclenching and straightening his hands, the metal unclenching from Hiroshi's hands and shifting back into the table. Hiroshi's hands and forearms laid uselessly, broken, on the table's surface. "I got carried away, sorry about that," Bolin said, not sounding sorry at all. "I'm still getting used to Metalbending you see...and even my Earthbending reacts violently when I'm ROYALLY pissed off. I'm not going to use my bending on you again...because it's like I told those seven Equalists back in Republic City, I'm an equal opportunity kind of guy. If you're a bender, I use my bending..."

He walked around the table to stand next to Hiroshi and put a hand on his shoulder, his grip making Hiroshi's clavicle and scapula crack slightly, eliciting another cry of pain form the older man.

"...But if you're a pretentious non-bender like they were, I'll make you scream like a pig with my bare hands."


	15. Chapter 14

True to his word, Bolin returned six days after he had left, looking rather happy and unharmed. Asami noticed and was relieved.

Mostly because she could finally get out of Korra and Mako's line of questioning. For the past six days, they had hounded her about where Bolin was and what he was doing. She stuck with her story Bolin fed her about him going up into the mountains -"To train or something, I'm not sure." -and played Roulette with her phone every time it called.

It was barely a whole day after Bolin came back that Asami found her doorway hounded by Mako and Korra.

"We heard Bolin was back," Korra said. "We NEED to talk to him."

Asami heaved a sigh, rubbing her temple; she was getting a massive headache by now. "About WHAT, Korra?" she asked, frowning. "What is so important that you feel the need to blow up my phone, stalk me while I'm out in the city, and leave me too many messages to categorize?"

Korra at least had the decency to look embarrassed; Mako on the other hand just scowled defensively.

"It's none of your business Asami -"

"No need to be rude, Mako." All of them turned when Bolin walked into the foyer, his hair damp and wearing only a pair of shorts and a tank top. "Besides, anything you tell me, I'm gonna tell her anyway."

Mako frowned. "Where were you, Bo?" he asked, sounding like he was expecting something not-too-pleasant. Bolin made a show of rolling his eyes, hands on his hips, looking decidedly exasperated.

"As Asami's BEEN telling you, I'm sure," he said, "I've been in the mountains. Plenty of rock up there to hone my Earthbending with, you know."

Korra looked almost relieved; Mako did too on some level, but Bolin saw a gleam of uncertainty and seeded suspicion in his eyes.

"...Listen, Bo..." Mako said, scratching the back of his head. "...Can you come by the station tomorrow, to grab some lunch with me?"

Bolin wasnt fooled for one minute. But he shrugged and said, "Sure. Any reason why?"

"Just...because."

Awkward silence.

"Well, now that you know where I was, what I was doing, and that I came back obviously fine and unmolested, can you PLEASE stop harassing Asami?"

"Yeah, sorry about that, Asami," Korra said, rubbing her arm in her embarrassed habitual way.

"...It's okay," Asami replied.

"Okay then. See you tomorrow around one, Bo," Mako said, waving and heading off with Korra. Bolin walked into the kitchen and snitched a package of sabretooth moose jerky, chewing on the strips.

"Someone snitched."

Asami looked up from putting the kettle on the stove. "...What do you mean?" she asked. Bolin growled to himself.

"Someone...probably one of the gangs...told them about me. The REAL me."

Asami paled slightly. "...So, why would -?"

"Mako still thinks I've been that happy-go-lucky, sweet-natured man-child all this time, and that whoever squealed was lying," Bolin said, biting off another strip of jerky. "...But the seeds of doubt have been planted, and he wants to make SURE..."

Asami nibbled her lip. "...And the visit to the police station tomorrow..."

Bolin's eyes flashed as he scowled. "Is a setup."

Like clockwork, just around one in the afternoon, Bolin walked into the police station and asked around for Mako. One of the officers gave Bolin a shrewd look and pointed to a room off to the side, which Bolin knew was the interrogation room, but he just gave the officer a smile, thanked him, and walked in.

In addition to Mako, Korra, Tenzin, and of course Chief Beifong all stood around the room, looking grim. Bolin feigned confusion, looking around. "Hey..." he said slowly, giving them all weirded looks. "...what's going on? You know my birthday isnt for another eight months." He let out a 'nervous' laugh, and saw that Mako's eyes looked slightly relieved.

"This isnt a surprise party, Bolin," Lin said, pointing to the seat across from her. "Sit."

Playing the part of the slightly-intimidated kid, Bolin quickly sat down with a 'yes ma'am'. "...What's going on?" he asked again. Behind him, Tenzin sighed.

"Bolin, Zolt came to the island a few days ago with...rather disturbing things to say." Pause. "About you."

Aha...so it was ZOLT who had ratted him out. Keeping his expression confused, Bolin said, "Um, what KINDS of things? Because I swear, I havent seen him since the Equalists kidnapped us and took away his bending -"

"He said all sorts of disgusting things, Bo," Mako cut in, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. "About how you're in the underground non-bending fights and...how you mutilate people and even killed people -"

"WHAT!?" Bolin shouted, jumping to his feet. "That's ridiculous, I've NEVER done that EVER! The hell is Zolt trying to PULL with something like that!?"

"He was...pretty convincing, Bo," Korra said slowly. Bolin looked around wildly before turning back to Lin.

"Chief, I SWEAR, I've never done ANY of those things Zolt said!" he cried, looking panicked but innocent. "And -!" His eyes suddenly narrowed. "Gods, that son of a bitch! He's getting back at me!" He buried his hands in his hair. "He called me and demanded I pull some strings for him to get his bending back in return for all the 'kindness' he's paid me and Mako over the years! Bastard!"

Lin frowned at the outburst, but she sensed absolutely no lie from Bolin at all. Yes his attitude had been a little unsavory, but he really didnt seem to be the type who would do THOSE sorts of things Zolt accused him of doing. "He's not lying," Lin said to the others. Mako heaved a visible sigh of relief and hugged Bolin tightly.

"I knew he was lying," he said. "I know you, Bo, and you'd NEVER do those things..."

Bolin hugged back, nodding. "Thanks, Mako," he said. "...We...still going out for lunch? I could really use some noodles."

As Mako let out a weak laugh at his brother's blase and expected response, Bolin hid a smile behind Mako's shoulder.

Oh yeah. He still had it.


	16. Chapter 15

Zolt scowled down at yet ANOTHER rejection of appeal to get his bending back, wishing more than anything he could set the damn letter on fire. It was as though his week wasnt bad enough with Mako completely disregarding the truth about Bolin through blind loyalty and rose-colored goggles. Not even the Avatar or Councilman Tenzin believed him.

Unless the lunatic did something right under their noses, Bolin wasnt going to be stopped.

He heaved a sigh and popped the cork of his whisky to pour himself a tumbler, his nerves almost making him drop the bottle when the phone rang. Putting the bottle down, he picked up the earpiece. "What is it?"

_"You really thought you'd get away with it, didnt you?"_

Zolt nearly vomited what little he had to ate that morning from his stomach clenching at Bolin's voice. "...Bolin," he said as evenly as he could, but couldnt help the waver that slipped through. "...what exactly are you -"

_"Dont play coy, Zolt, you never could pull it off. I know you went to my brother about me. I know you ratted me out. Lucky me that Mako still thinks I'm his sweet baby brother and that Beifong cant detect my lying."_

Zolt audibly gulped, his hand clenching around the earpiece as he heard Bolin chuckle darkly on the other end.

_"Oh, but SO unlucky for you that Mako told me it was YOU who ratted me out. Pity, pity that. Because...you KNOW what happens to canaryvipers who sing..."_

Ice cold sweat began pouring from Zolt's body. "...Yes...I know..."

_"...No, Zolt...I dont think you REALLY do."_ Zolt could practically see Bolin casually examine his fingertips. _"...But you WILL."_

"Bolin, we can be rational about this -!"

_"Yes, Zolt, we can!"_ Bolin's voice went insanely giddy. _"We can RATIONALIZE plenty. As soon as I make it to your office, which should be in about...oh...fifteen seconds if I dont dawdle at the receptionist desk. You have that long of a head start. Go." *click*_

Zolt sat frozen for what seemed like forever before throwing the phone from him and bolting up from his desk to attempt to scamble out the window. He almost made it out when the ground outside was Earthbent an inch from his face, causing him to fall back into his office. Recovering quickly, he jumped up to run off when he was met face-to-face with Bolin.

Dead, still silence rang through the room for the longest time, Zolt frozen in fear, and Bolin smiling in that same way Zolt saw two years ago. A smile that promised pain.

The smile was the last thing he saw before everything went black.

* * *

Tiny smidgens of sight returned to Zolt between blackness; he was aware that he was in a car, then he was dragged through a warehouse and down metal stairs; a brief sensation of taking a ride down a dark metal tunnel...

He was suddenly jerked awake as a sharp pain shot through his chest, and he looked down to see a large syringe sticking out of him.

"Oh, good, you're up."

Zolt shuddered hard at Bolin's 'happy' voice, hardly daring to look up. Bolin smiled broadly and non-too-gently jerked the needle out. "Cant have you fainting on me," he said, jiggling a small bottle of what Zolt recognized as epinephrine. "So I shot you up some adrinaline. More for my own good than yours, but hey, nothing really dampers the mood of a REALLY good torture session than the other guy passing out from pain, ya know?" He sat the syringe and bottle down on an adjacent table.

Zolt struggled for a moment before realizing that he was restrained. He looked around and saw that he was in a very dimly-lit but VERY large room, strapped upright to...something. Whatever it was, it was metal, and it was uncomfortable.

"It's just a prototype," Bolin spoke, gesturing with his hand, the device clanking slightly as it shifted so Zolt was lying horizontal. "But I still need a test run. I was saving you for the final draft, but eh, what can ya do?"

"What the hell is this!?" Zolt snapped, jerking harder. Bolin smiled, his eyes aglow with excitement.

"A device of my own design," he said, walking around Zolt as though to admire his own work. "I've been studying up on engineering and mechanics from the Sato library...I've gotten pretty good at it. This device here runs on Metalbending." He patted Zolt's outstretched arm. "I'm working on having it run itself as soon as Metalbending sparks it, but right now, I'm still stuck on running it myself. What it does, is break your bones FOR me."

Zolt paled, but also looked confused; Bolin always preferred a hands-on approach to these types of things.

"Oh, dont you worry now," Bolin continued, seeing Zolt's expression. "These work with the main limb bones...tibia, femur, ulna, radius...but just think about it...a DEVICE that does this to you. A cold, unfeeling, unrelenting, MACHINE built JUST for you and your pain...it cant be stopped no matter how much you plead and cry and scream. This is a machine that, once perfected, will have traitors, snitches, and enemies feeling nothing but agony during their last moments.

"You see, Zolt...this isnt a device for torture...that I'd love to do on my own." He grinned. "This is a device for EXECUTION."

Zolt went deathly pale and began hyperventilating. "BOLIN, STOP THIS!" he shrieked, thrashing against the restraints. "THIS IS INHUMAN! THIS IS INSANE! PLEASE!"

"Oh, now that's a word I've never heard you say before," Bolin said, smirking before his expression went foul. "...You weak, disgusting bending-dependants are all the same...hiding behind your bending and showing your true selves in your last moments. Crying, sniveling, screaming piles of worthless flesh undeserving of any form of excess power." He began pacing as he ranted. "You were so fucking proud when you had your Firebending...ruling over us little street rat peons with it...but look at you now..."

He clicked his fingers, and Zolt felt the machine beneath him clink to life.

"...Powerless to stop the inevitable." His grins broadened. "While we have fun, Zolt...I want you to beg me for forgiveness for everything you put me through...and while you beg me, I'll thank you. Because YOU gave me the means to be everything I am today."

Moments later, the entire room resounded with almost inhuman agonized screams, with insane, gleeful laughter thrown into the timbre.


End file.
